Bangladesh sees over 1,000 COVID deaths in four days

Bangladesh recorded a shocking spike in coronavirus deaths in recent days. It took Bangladesh thirteen and a half months to record the first 10,000 deaths, but the next 10,000 fatalities from the disease came in only three and a half months.

Of the latest deaths, 1,000 were confirmed in the last four days alone. They are among the around 13,000 fatalities from coronavirus infection in Bangladesh this year amid the pandemic.

The numbers give an idea about how dangerous the pandemic has turned for Bangladesh after the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus became dominant, reports bdnews24.com.

When the death toll crossed 10,000 on Apr 25, the mortality rate was 1.43 per cent. The caseload crossed 750,000 at that time.

On Wednesday, when the toll crossed the grim milestone of 20,000, the mortality rate increased to 1.65 per cent, as the number of confirmed cases rose by over another 500,000 to cross 1.2 million. 

Public health experts believe the actual figures are much higher than the confirmed ones due to a lack of tests, especially in the countryside.

Bangladesh is currently going through the most devastating wave of infections after the number of patients had begun to rise in April due to the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. The situation improved slightly in May before worsening again.

The outbreak was mainly visible in Dhaka and surrounding districts last year, but infections rose rapidly in the border districts of Rajshahi and Khulna in June with the Delta variant spreading.

Now entire Bangladesh has slipped deeper into the crisis even as the government resumed vaccination after a break due to a lack of doses.  

Government data show that most of the COVID-19 patients being hospitalised now are from the rural areas.

The fatality rate among them is higher because they are seeking treatment only after the illness becomes severe, doctors said.

Be-Nazir Ahmed, a former director of the Directorate General of Health Services, said the current mortality rate is “a bit higher” than normal.

“The Delta variant may be behind the rise in the mortality rate. Although it has not been scientifically proved anywhere in the world yet, it cannot be ruled out altogether.”

He said the variant has given a rise to infections, even among the youth and the fully vaccinated people.

Bangladesh logged 16,230 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8:00 am on Wednesday, a new daily record, taking the total caseload to 1,210,982.

Another 237 people died from the disease in this period, taking the death toll to 20,016, according to the latest government data.

Dhaka registered the most daily deaths and new cases among the eight divisions, logging 70 fatalities and 8,271 infections.

Chattogram tallied 62 deaths and 3,303 cases, Khulna 34 deaths and 866 cases, and Rajshahi 21 deaths and 917 cases.