Infection rate still hovers around 20pc

While the entire month of June saw the infection rate hover between 21 and 23 percent, July sees no improvement.

The current infection rate is 22.26 percent, said Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of the  Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), during the daily coronavirus briefing yesterday.

Alongside amped-up testing from mid-May, the month of June had seen the infection rate jump. A whole week into July, the only difference lies in decimal points.

A total of 15,672 samples were tested across the country in 24 hours till 2:30pm yesterday, Dr Nasima said. Of them, 3,489 tested positive for Covid-19.

The total number of infections in the country is 172,134 and the overall infection rate so far stands at 19.36 percent, she said.

In addition, 46 people died from coronavirus infection in those 24 hours, Dr Nasima said. "The death toll now stands at 2,197 and the death rate at 1.28 percent."

Two-third of the people who died in those 24 hours were between 50 and 70 years old.

Among the deceased, 12 were from Dhaka, 14 from Chattogram, nine from Khulna, three from Rajshahi, four from Sylhet, one from Rangpur and three others were from Barishal division.

Overall, 79 percent of the deaths occurred among male patients.