Covid-19 fatalities cross 4,800 mark
BD now sixth worst-hit country in Asia
FE REPORT | Wednesday, 16 September 2020
With 43 more fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours ending Tuesday morning, the death toll from the novel coronavirus in the country crossed 4,800-mark to reach 4,802, according to the official data.
This new figure made Bangladesh the sixth worst-hit country in Asia in terms of fatalities after India, Iran, Indonesia, Iraq and Pakistan.
The fatality rate also rose to 1.41 per cent as 341,056 confirmed cases have been recorded so far in the densely populated nation of around 165 million populations.
Although the number of infections kept falling in recent weeks, the infection rate is still above the danger level, according to the healthcare professionals.
The result is obvious -- almost 80 per cent of beds in the dedicated hospitals remained empty.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) data, there were 14,275 dedicated beds for coronavirus patients across the country as of September 15, but only 3,121 patients are undergoing treatment in the hospitals.
And the number of empty beds has been increasing fast because of the sharp rise in the number of recovery. The tally now reached 245,594.
According to the Tuesday's health bulletin issued by the DGHS, a total of 14,050 samples were tested across the country since Monday noon.
Of the tests, some 1,724 samples were found COVID-19 positive, with 43 more deaths recorded across the country during the period, it mentioned.
With these numbers, the overall tally of confirmed cases and deaths rose to 342,056 and 4,802 respectively.
Of the total deaths, 48.71 per cent of the fatalities were recorded in Dhaka division followed by Chattogram (20.99 per cent), Khulna (8.45 per cent), Rajshahi (6.73 per cent), Rangpur (4.75 per cent), Sylhet (4.50 per cent), Barisal (3.75 per cent) and Mymensingh (2.12 per cent), said the health bulletin.
At the same time, the DGHS data also mentioned that 2,439 patients were recovered, taking the entire tally of recovery to 245,594. The recovery rate rose to 72.01 per cent.