DHAKA, July 31, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh today recorded 28 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths and 2,772 fresh cases overnight.
The recovery count rose to 135,136 after another 2,176 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, a top health official said.
“Twenty-eight more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 3,111,” 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 237,661 as 2,772 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.
The health official also informed that a total of 12,614 samples were tested at 82 authorized laboratories across the country during the time.
Of the total sample test in the past 24 hours, 21.98 percent tested positive, while 20.20 percent cases were detected from the total tests conducted so far, Nasima added.
Among the total infections, 56.86 percent patients have recovered, while 1.31 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 28 deaths, 22 are male and six female, she said, adding two are in their 20s, three in his 30s, two are in their 40s, seven in their 50s, 10 in their 60s and four in their 70s.
According to the division-wise data, 13 deaths took place in Dhaka division and eight in Chattogram division and rests are in other divisions.
She said as of today, a total of 3,111 people — 2,446 males and 665 females — died from COVID-19 in the country.
Of them, Nasima said, 1,488 deaths occurred in Dhaka division, 759 in Chattogram division, 185 in Rajshahi division, 221 in Khulna division, 122 in Barishal division, 151 in Sylhet division, 118 in Rangpur division and 67 in Mymensingh division.
She said a total of 11,76,809 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.
A total of 1,52,139 people have so far received healthcare services from telemedicine, it added.
The DGHS said 1,79,30,639 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 31, 2020, 10.29 GMT, 677,184 have died so far from the COVID-19 outbreak and there are 17,499,767 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.