Infection rate drops to 2.68 percent

The daily novel coronavirus infection rate in Bangladesh fell to 2.68 percent yesterday after the health authorities reported 396 new cases in 24 hours till the morning.

Thirteen new Covid-19 related deaths were also confirmed, taking the fatality count to 8,298. So far, 541,434 cases have been confirmed in the country, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Bangladesh reported its first novel coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18.

The daily coronavirus infection rate was 3.15 percent on Monday, while the overall infection rate stood at 13.97 percent. The figure is likely to fall further as a countrywide mass Covid-19 vaccination drive is underway.

But the mortality rate remained at 1.53 percent for the past few days, including yesterday, said a DGHS handout.

So far, 488,621 patients (90.25 patients) have recovered from novel coronavirus.

As of now, 3,877,042 samples have been tested, including 14,788 in the same 24-hour period.

The countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive kicked off on February 7.

Bangladesh inked an agreement with the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd, the world's largest vaccine maker, for 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum will send five million doses each month between January and June.