Positivity rate 16.74pc with 7 new deaths

Seven people died of Covid-19 and 1,098 new virus cases were reported in Bangladesh on Tuesday.
The figures were comparatively lower than that of 12 and 2,285 respectively on Monday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the latest daily counts, the total fatalities from Covid-19 reached 29,181 in the country since the virus was detected in the country in March 2020,
Some 11,932 samples were tested during the last 24 hours until 8:0am on Tuesday while 11,882 samples were collected during the period.
However, the Covid-19 test positivity rate slightly inched to 16.74 per cent on the day from the previous day's 16.51 per cent.
UNB report adds: Dhaka has reported scores of COVID-19 cases traced to the BA.5 Omicron sub-variant, which appears to be more infectious than the past versions of the virus, extending the current Covid surge.
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) on Tuesday told about the rapid spread of BA.5 Omicron subvariant cases.
During the last six weeks (14 May to 24 June 2022), this subvariant became the most predominant. During this period, 51 out of 52 covid cases were identified as BA.5 subvariant and one BA.2 by using complete genome sequencing, according to icddr,b.
SARS-CoV-2 variants are outcompeted one by another over time, which underscores the continuation of variant surveillance for a regular update on the emergence of new variants, states the icddr,b report.
A study, conducted on 40 Omicron BA.5 infected patients, found that 38 patients had received at least one dose vaccine. Among them, 16 had received booster doses of vaccines, 21 had two doses, and one had received only one dose.
Besides, 39 patients had mild to moderate symptoms, and one had no symptoms. And only one was hospitalised for a day which means the severity of this subvariant is low.
The researchers also urged everyone to practice all precautions to keep safe from COVID-19 as well as to get vaccinated against the virus who are not vaccinated yet.
The first suspected Omicron subvariant BA.5 in Dhaka was detected on May 19. The Omicron variant in Bangladesh was first identified on December 6 last year.
Meanwhile, globally the overall number of Covid cases has now surpassed 555 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 555,233,865 and the death toll from the virus reached 6,362,437 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 89,567,321 cases so far and 1,043,372 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
With 14,224 new cases in 24 hours, India recorded 43,532,788 new Covid cases, data released by the country's federal health ministry showed on Sunday.
Besides, 31 deaths due to Covid since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 525,223.

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