Covid infection rate scales 18.59pc

• 54 more die in 24 hours across the country
• Khulna surpasses Dhaka with caseload

FE Report
Covid-19 infection rate marked a phenomenal rise in Bangladesh, reaching 18.59 per cent on Friday, as the surge in fresh caseloads continued in some bordering areas including Khulna and Rajshahi divisions.
On Thursday, the Covid-19 test positivity rate was recorded at 15.44 per cent in the country, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Our Khulna correspondent reported that the coronavirus cases hit a new daily record of 1,033 on Friday, surpassing that of the daily count in Dhaka with 945 on the day.
Eight more people died from coronavirus during the last 24 hours until 8:00 am on Friday, he reported.
Both the infections and fatalities from Covid-19 also maintained their previous upward trend in Rajshahi division on Friday.
The daily new caseloads jumped to 818 in Rajshahi on Friday against the previous days 645, according to the DGHS.
Quoting Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani, Director of Rajshahi Medical Collage Hospital, our Rajshahi correspondent reported that the number of patients admitted to the hospital during the last 24 hours remained almost the same like the previous day.
Meanwhile, a report from the civil surgeon of Rajshahi showed that coronavirus was detected among 161 persons against 367 samples, tested at two PCR labs of RMCH during the last 24-hour period.

The test positivity rate was 43.87 per cent on the day, the correspondent reported.
The bordering areas of Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Khulna, Satkhira, Jessore and Kustia still remain vulnerable to spread of Indian Covid-19 variant.
The district administrations already put such areas under 'hard lockdown' to prevent further spread of the coronavirus outbreak, especially through the fast-spreading and deadly Indian variant, in the country.
Meanwhile, 54 more people died of coronavirus in the last 24 hours across the country. With the latest daily counts, total fatalities from coronavirus stood at 13,399 since the virus was first detected in the country in March 2020, said a DGHS press release.
The rate of fatalities from coronavirus reached 1.59 per cent on Friday from the previous day's 1.57 per cent.
According to the DGHS figures, a total of 20,882 samples were tested, including antigen-based rapid tests, while some 21,337 samples were collected across the country during the last 24-hour reporting time.
A total of 1,955 people recovered from the Covid-19 during the period, as per the DGHS press release.
The rate of recovery from the disease remained almost unchanged at 92.12 per cent on Friday.
A total of 8,44,970 people were tested Covid-19 positive in Bangladesh until May 30, and 7,78,421 of them recovered from the deadly disease.
Nearly 6.29 million samples had so far been tested across the country, the DGHS figures showed.
smjahangirfe@gmail.com, bwjs123@gmail.com,
kanaimondal61@gmail.com