The fatalities and new cases of Covid-19 have both shot up this week, coincidentally, with the lifting of lockdown on Jul 15 despite health experts' best advice.
In the 24 hours ending at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday (Jul 17), Bangladesh recorded 204 Covid-19 deaths and 8,489 infections, according to the data from the Directorate General of Health Services.
Until Saturday, the fatalities have increased 15.90 percent and infections 13.74 percent from a week earlier.
In the past week, a total of 1,277 died from Covid-19 and 73,059 had tested positive.
The week has not ended yet and the numbers have already been exceeded, as of Saturday morning, there have been 1,480 deaths and 83,096 infections.
On the bright side, the rate of recovery of Covid-19 patients has also increased, by 41.30 percent.
Last week, a total of 38,940 people recovered from the disease. So far this week, 55,024 have made their recovery.
With the latest count, the total number of deaths due to Covid-19 rose to 17,669 and the total confirmed cases to 10,92,411. The death rate stands at 1.62 percent.
In the 24 hours to 8 a.m. Saturday, the positivity rate rose again to 29.06 percent from 28.96 percent the previous day.
Thanks to the 14-day lockdown since the beginning of this month, the transmission showed a slightly downward trend from Tuesday, with the positivity rate declining to 27 percent on Thursday.
The rate, however, has started rising again from Friday, as predicted by the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, which advised against lifting the lockdown for a week for the Eid-ul-Azha festivities.
On Saturday, the Dhaka division recorded 82 deaths, up from 68 recorded for the 24 hours to 8 a.m. on Friday. This was the highest death toll in a single day in the Dhaka division.
In Khulna division, 39 Covid-19 patients died, in Chattogram 32, in Rajshahi 20, in Rangpur 10, in Barishal five, in Mymensingh four and in Sylhet two.
Of Saturday's deceased, 125 were male and 79 were female.
