No scope to become complacent

Though the number of new Covid-19 cases dropped last week compared to the week before, experts say there is no room for complacency as the rate of infection remained almost static.

They said the number declined thanks to the decreased number of tests.

According to sources, 25,917 positive cases were recorded between June 27 and July 3 after testing samples of 1,20,406 people, meaning the average infection rate in that week was 21.52 percent.

The test number was reduced to 1,00,925 between July 4 and yesterday, of which 22,052 tested positive, taking the weekly average infection rate to 21.84 percent.

Recalling the spike in coronavirus cases during the last eid festival, experts apprehend that the situation might be worse if the government fails to take proper measures before the Eid-ul-Azha.

"If you see the data, the number of new cases against daily tests remained between 20 percent and 23 percent. It means if you double the test, there is a chance that the number of new cases would be double," said Prof Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director of disease control at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Bangladesh remains the 17th worst affected country in the world in terms of the total number of coronavirus cases.

In the last 24 hours until 2:30pm yesterday, 2,949 people tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of infection to 1,78,443, said Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of DGHS.

During this time, 13,488 samples were tested in 77 labs across the country. The rate of infection stood at 21.86 percent yesterday.

Record shows, the rate was 20.19 percent on June 26.

Prof Mozaherul Huq, former regional advisor of WHO South East Asia region and founder of the Public Health Foundation of Bangladesh, suggested that the government tackle the situation skillfully.

"We need to find out actual information about infection and increase the testing facilities," he said.

Pointing out that the country has a weak tracing system, he said the government needs to strengthen its contact tracing system. "Otherwise, the coronavirus will continue to spread among us," he added.

BRIEFING

A total of 37 people died from coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 2,275, Nasima said.

The position is one step ahead of France and one step behind Germany, according to worldometer.info.

Among the deceased, 29 were male and eight were female while 12 were from Dhaka, 17 from Chattogram, two from Rajshahi, two from Sylhet, one from Barishal, one from Mymensingh and two others were from Rangpur division

Of them, one was between 21-30 years old, one between 31-40, seven between 41-50, nine between 51-60, 15 between 61-70 and four between 71-80 years old, Dr Nasima also said.

Meanwhile, 1,862 Covid-19 patients recovered, according to DGHS.

The total number of recoveries has reached 86,406.

A total of 893 people were put under isolation during this time.