With 2,595 more people testing positive for Covid-19 yesterday, Bangladesh has now become sixth on the list of countries with most active cases.

The 24 hours till 8:30am yesterday also saw 37 deaths from the highly transmissible virus, according to the health directorate.

The total number of actives cases rose to 1,17,454, according to www.worldometers.info -- a reference website that provides almost real-time statistics.

Out of 2,79,144 confirmed cases, 1,60,591 patients -- or more than 57 percent -- have recovered from their illnesses as of yesterday, according to the health directorate.

With 6,79,946 actives cases, neighbouring India is third on the list which is topped by USA with around 25 lakh actives cases, followed by Brazil with around eight lakh.

The 37 deaths reported yesterday took the total number of Covid-19-related deaths to 3,694 -- around 1.32 percent of all cases.

Thirty-two Covid-19 patients died the previous day.

Of yesterday's deceased, 28 were male and nine were female. Six died in their residences while 31 died in hospitals.

Three of them were aged between 31 and 40, eight each were between 41 and 50 and 51 and 60, while 18 were over 60 years old.

Twenty were from Dhaka division, four from Chattogram, three from Rajshahi, six from Khulna, three from Rangpur and one was from Barishal division.

Dhaka division has accounted for the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the country -- 1,768.

HEALTH MINISTER'S MEETING WITH PM POSTPONED

The much-talked-about meeting on the trial of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines between the health minister Zahid Maleque and the prime minister Sheikh Hasina was postponed.

"The meeting will be rescheduled soon," Maidul Islam Prodhan, public relations officer of the health ministry told The Daily Star.

Last Wednesday, the health minister talked about this meeting during a discussion with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal during the meeting of the cabinet committee on purchase.

Besides, the health ministry is also yet to take any decision on the collection of the Covid-19 vaccines when it becomes available in the market.

This issue was on the agenda of the health minister's meeting with the prime minister.

On July 18, Bangladesh Medical Research Council permitted the icddr,b to conduct the vaccine trial on 4,200 healthcare workers in seven hospitals.

But the trial became uncertain after the health minister and the health service division secretary last month said it would take time for the government to decide.

DR AMINUL HASAN AWARDED NEW POSITION

Dr Aminul Hasan, the immediate past director of hospitals and clinics at the health directorate before he was removed from his post, has been appointed the principal of the Dhaka Institute of Health Technology.

Sharmin Akter Jahan, deputy secretary of the health service division of the health ministry, confirmed this to The Daily Star yesterday.

On Sunday, the ministry issued the circular, where Aminul was asked to join his new workplace within three working days.

On July 23, Aminul Hasan was made officer on special duty (OSD) amidst huge criticism over the Regent Hospital scam.

Two days earlier, Prof Abul Kalam Azad -- the then director general of the health directorate -- also resigned from his post because of the same issue.

Last Wednesday, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) started questioning the former DG and four other DGHS former officials including Aminul over various scams and irregularities in the health sector.

The three others are former deputy directors of the DGHS Yunus Ali, Md Shafiur Rahman and research officer Md Didarul Islam.