Delta is now having an effect on Dhaka

Dhaka, which has been trailing Khulna for about a week, reported the greatest number of daily Covid-19 deaths among all divisions yesterday, as the pandemic’s current wave continues to wreak devastation across the country.

According to data from the Directorate General of Health Services, Dhaka recorded 70 of the 185 deaths confirmed in the 24 hours leading up to 8:00 a.m. yesterday (DGHS).

According to the report, 1,277 people have died of the disease in the last seven days.

The official Covid-19 death toll in the country has now reached 16,189, with a total of 10,09,315 verified cases, according to the data.

The DGHS data does not include information on those who died as a result of coronavirus symptoms.

According to the University of Dhaka’s Centre for Genocide Studies, at least 2,939 people have died as a result of these symptoms so far.

At least 486 of them perished in the two weeks leading up to July 6. In the previous two weeks (June 9-22), the figure was 151, according to a study released Tuesday.

Following the start of the second wave of Covid-19 in March, Dhaka division had the country’s highest daily death toll — 71 — on April 17.

Yesterday, 51 people died in Khulna, which has been a hotbed of infection and death for the past two weeks.

Both the Dhaka and Khulna divisions suffered 35 deaths on July 1st. However, on July 3, the south-western division had 46 deaths, the highest for the division that day.

Khulna also had the highest death toll in five of the eight days leading up to Friday, when the Covid-19 death toll increased by 48.66 percent over the preceding seven days.

According to a DGHS press statement, the number of new cases has increased by 37.54 percent over the same time period.

Yesterday, there were at least 8,722 new cases reported, with a positive rate of 31.46 percent. According to DGHS data, the number of Covid cases increased to 73,059 this week, up from 53,118 the week before.

The mounting death toll in Dhaka division indicated that the pandemic situation in this area is becoming as catastrophic as it is in Khulna and Rajshahi.

The government has decided to turn the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Convention Centre into a 1,000-bed field hospital for Covid-19 patients as the number of illnesses and deaths continues to climb in Dhaka.

At a news conference held at the convention center yesterday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said, “There will be 400 critical care units (ICU) and 400 beds in high dependency units (HDU).”

VACCINE

Meanwhile, Minister Zahid Maleque stated yesterday at the same occasion that 60 lakh doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine would arrive in the country in the first month of next month through Covax facilities.

He said the World Health Organization has informed the Bangladesh government of the situation in a letter sent on Friday.

In addition, the minister stated that 50 lakh doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine would come at the end of this month or the beginning of next month.

“Within the next one and a half months, we anticipate to have one to one and a half crore doses of vaccines in our hands.”

With 25 lakh doses of Covax’s Moderna vaccine and 20 lakh doses from Sinopharm, the country’s mass immunization effort has already gained traction.

The World Health Organization, the Vaccine Alliance Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations are coordinating the Covax, which is a global program. It was established to ensuring that low- and middle-income nations have access to Covid vaccines on an equal basis.

More than 12 lakh people have registered for the immunization after the age limit was dropped from 40 to 35.

The vaccination effort, which began on February 7, was hampered by the Serum Institute of India’s suspension of vaccine supply amid an increase in daily new cases and deaths in the country.

Bangladesh and Serum agreed that between January and June, the latter will supply three crore Oxford vaccine doses to Bangladesh in stages.

In January, Serum despatched the initial 50 lakh doses, but only 20 lakh the following month. Since then, no shipments have been made. In addition, India gave Bangladesh 3.3 million doses as a gift.

Bangladesh halted the first dosage of the vaccination on April 26 due to a rapidly dwindling vaccine stock. Nine days later, the registration of people for vaccination was halted.

On June 19, the government commenced administering the first dose on a limited scale, with 11 lakh Sinopharm China pills delivered as a gift.