ZCZC
BSS-26
COVID-19-BRIEFING LEAD
Bangladesh reports 50 COVID-19 deaths, 1,19,208 total recoveries
(updates with more information)
DHAKA, July 23, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh today recorded 50 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths and 2,856 fresh cases overnight.
The recovery count rose to 1,19,208 after another 2,006 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, a top health official said.
“Fifty more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 2801,” 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 2,16,110 as 2,856 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.
The health official also informed that a total of 12,398 samples were tested at 80 authorized laboratories across the country during the time.
Among the total infections, 55.16 percent patients have recovered while 1.30 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 50 deaths, 41 are male and nine female. she said adding, three are in their 30s, seven in their 40s, 12 in their 50s, 16 in their 60s, eight in their 70s and four in their 80s.
According to the division-wise data, 20 deaths took place in Dhaka division, five in Chattogram division, six in Rajshahi division, seven in Khulna division and seven in Rangpur division and rests are in other divisions.
She said as of today, a total of 2,801 people — 2,209 males and 592 females — died from COVID-19 in the country.
Of them, Nasima said, 1,361 deaths occurred in Dhaka division, 701 in Chattogram division, 158 in Rajshahi division, 188 in Khulna division, 106 in Barishal division, 129 in Sylhet division, 100 in Rangpur division and 58 in Mymensingh division.
She said a total of 10,79,907 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. As many as 1,15,975 people have so far received healthcare services from telemedicine, they added.
It said nearly 1,76,10,450 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 23, 2020, 10.17 GMT, 630,781 have died so far from the COVID-19 outbreak and there are 15,400,761 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.
BSS/ASG/MMR/SH/1645 HRS