DHAKA, July 22, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh today recorded 42 coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths and 2,744 fresh cases overnight.
The recovery count rose to 1,17,202 after another 1,805 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, a top health official said.
“Forty-two more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 2,751,” Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing at DGHS in the city this afternoon.
She said the tally of infections has surged to 2,13,254 as 2,744 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.
The health official also informed that a total of 12,050 samples were tested at 80 authorized laboratories across the country during the time.
Among the total infections, 54.96 percent patients have recovered while 1.29 percent died so far since the first COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the country on March 8, she said.
Nasima dubbed Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chattogram as COVID-19 “hotspots” because the maximum numbers of cases were detected in the three cities.
Among the 42 deaths, 30 are male and 12 female, she said, adding one is in his 20s, three are in their 30s, three their 40s, 11 in their 50s, 14 in their 60s, eight in their 70s, one in his 80s while one between 10 and 20 years.
According to the division-wise data, 21 deaths took place in Dhaka division and eight in Chattogram division and rests are in other divisions.
Of the total 2,751 deaths, Nasima said, 1,341 are in Dhaka Division, 696 in Chattogram division, 152 in Rajshahi division, 181 in Khulna division, 102 in Barishal division, 128 in Sylhet division, 93 in Rangpur division and 58 in Mymensingh division.
She said a total of 10,66,609 samples have so far been tested since the detection of the first COVID-19 cases in the country.
The DGHS said in order to make treatment facilities easily available for COVID-19 patients, the government has introduced telemedicine services comprising 70 physicians and 20 health workers for round the clock in the country.
It said nearly 1,72,22,383 people received healthcare services from hotline mobile numbers and health web portals as the government formed a group of medical professionals to provide emergency health services.
To receive information and treatment facilities on COVID-19, the contact hotline and mobile numbers are 16263; 333; 10655 and 01944333222.
As of July 22, 2020, 09.43 GMT, 620,033 have died so far from the COVID-19 outbreak and there are 15,117,078 currently confirmed cases in 212 countries and territories, according to Worldometer, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.
China was the world’s first country which on January 11 reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province.