Dhaka, Feb 17 (UNB) : Fifteen more coronavirus-related deaths and 391 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours until Thursday morning.
The numbers are slightly lower than Wednesday’s when the health authorities reported 16 deaths and 443 fresh cases.
So far, 542,268 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed with 8,329 fatalities, data released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) showed.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18.
The daily coronavirus infection rate rose to 2.68% on Thursday which was 2.67% on Wednesday.
According to latest figures, the overall infection rate stood at 13.87% which was 13.97% percent on Wednesday and expected to fall further as a mass countrywide coronavirus vaccination drive is underway.
But the mortality rate remained at 1.53%, said the DGHS handout.
So far, 489,932 patients (90.35%) have recovered.
The authorities have tested 3,908,257 samples until today, 14,603 in the past 24 hours.
Vaccination in Bangladesh
The countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive kicked off on February 7.
Bangladesh inked an agreement with the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd, the world’s largest vaccine maker, for 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum will send five million doses each month between January and June.
Five million doses arrived in Jan and India gifted another two million doses as gift.
The government, determined to make the vaccination driver a success, brought down the age to 40 for registration to get jabs. The doses are being provided for free.
So far, 181,546 people have received the first shot. After the first dose, the second one has to be taken within 8 to 12 weeks.
Global Covid-19 Situation
The number of global Covid-19 cases exceeded 109.9 million on Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The global case count reached 109,901,391 with 2,430,096 deaths, according to JHU.
The US has recorded 27,825,077 cases as of Thursday with 490,447 deaths.
India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 10,950,201 on Thursday, as 12,881 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, the federal health ministry said.
According to official data, the death toll mounted to 156,014 as 101 patients died since Wednesday morning.
Brazil was approaching 10 million Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, after 56,766 new cases were registered, bringing the total to 9,978,747, according to the Health Ministry.
In its daily report, the ministry also reported 1,150 deaths in 24 hours until Wednesday morning taking the death toll to 242,090.
Brazil ranks third in the world in terms of Covid-19 cases, after the United States and India, and second in deaths behind the US.
UN criticism on vaccine distribution
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticised the “wildly uneven and unfair” distribution of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, saying 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccinations.
He demanded a global effort to get all people in every nation vaccinated as soon as possible, reports AP.
The UN chief told a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council that 130 countries have not received a single dose of vaccine and declared that “at this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community.”
Guterres called for an urgent Global Vaccination Plan to bring together those with the power to ensure equitable vaccine distribution.
