Corona situation taking serious turn again

 

Live Correspondent: As the coronavirus situation has started to take a turn for the worse again in the country, especially in border regions, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has recommended imposing lockdown on 14 districts to stem the surge. The number of both deaths and infections from coronavirus has been on a rise in the country over the last few days.

Experts have blamed the presence of the Delta variant of the virus in Bangladesh and people’s reluctance to maintain health guidelines, including wearing masks and keeping distance from others, for the worsening Covid-19 situation.

“Deaths and infections from coronavirus have been on a rise in the country. We’ve recommended imposing restrictions on 14 districts as those are registering over 20 percent daily positivity rate for the last few days,” Dr. Md Robed Amin, line director (NCDC) at the DGHS, told.

According to the DGHS data, daily coronavirus infection and fatality rates have been showing an uptick since the end of the last month, especially driven by a surge in virus cases in the bordering districts.

Around 15 percent infection rate has been reported in over 30 districts while around 50 percent has been found in around 10 districts for the last few weeks. Locals and hospital sources said the coronavirus situation has turned alarming in the bordering districts over the last two weeks with a rise in both deaths and infections from the virus there and the trend is still continuing.

Talking to the Daily Sun, Prof Dr. Tahmina Shirin, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said, “Deaths and infections from coronavirus are increasing again especially driven by a spike in border districts. The situation has worsened as people of the areas are showing reluctance to maintain health guidelines and the Indian variant of the coronavirus has also been found there.”  

According to the DGHS, 50 virus-related deaths were reported on Tuesday while 54 on Monday, 47 on June 13, 39 on June 12, 43 on June 11, 40 on June 10, 36 on June 9, 44 on June 8, 30 on June 7, 38 on June 6, 43 on June 5, 34 on June 4, 30 on June 3, 34 on June 2 and 41 on June 1.

Besides, 3,319 cases were registered on Tuesday while 3,050 on Monday, 2,436 on June 13, 1,637 on June 12, 2,454 on June 11, 2,576 on June 10, 2,537 on June 9, 2,322 on June 8, 1,937 on June 7, 1,676 on June 6, 1,447 on June 5, 1,887 on June 4, 1,687 on June 3, 1,988 on June 2 and 1,765 on June 1.

The DGHS statistics said over 50 percent coronavirus infection rate has been reported in some districts, including Natore, Naogaon, Chapainnawabganj, and Rajshahi of Rajshahi division.

The infection rate has also spiked in Joypurhat and Bogura districts of Rajshahi division, Dinajpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Panchagarh, Rangpur, and Thakurgaon districts of Rangpur division, Bagerhat, Chuadanga, Jashore, Jhenaidah, Khulna, Kushtia, Magura, Meherpur, Narail, and Satkhira districts of Khulna division, Pirojpur district of Barishal division, Jamalpur and Sherpur districts of Mymensingh division and Sylhet of Sylhet district and Gopalganj, Faridpur and Tangail districts of Dhaka, the sources said.

Twelve more Covid-19 patients died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in the last 24 hours till Tuesday. With this, 198 people have died of Covid-19 and with symptoms consistent with the deadly disease at the hospital since May 24.

Three of the new deceased were from the Rajshahi district while seven from Chapainawabganj, one was from Natore and Naogaon districts. Some 58 new patients were admitted to the hospital during the period.

The infection rate was 30.17 percent in Rajshahi while 22.23 percent in Chapainawabganj, and 48.87 percent in Naogaon in the past 24 hours till Monday morning.

After Khulna and Rajshahi divisions, the Rangpur division is now emerging as a new hotspot of coronavirus as Thakurgaon, Dinajpur and Rangpur districts are registering the highest infection rates, according to the Covid-19 situation report of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Bangladesh reported its first three coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first virus-related death 10 days later. Both infections and deaths from coronavirus started to decline from the first week of July last year and the fall continued till the first week of March this year.

However, the numbers started rising further from March 10. The highest 7,626 cases were reported on April 7 and record 112 deaths were registered on April 19.

Following a fresh surge in both infections and deaths from the deadly pathogen, the government enforced a lockdown in the country from April 5 which has been extended until today in phases. The situation slightly improved in May after the imposition of the restrictions but it started to deteriorate again at the end of the last month.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday lamented that coronavirus infections are rising again in the country as many people are not adhering to safety protocols properly.

Dhaka, 15 June (campuslive24.com)//BSC

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