Trailing behind Khulna for nearly a week, Dhaka yesterday reported the highest number of daily Covid deaths among all divisions as this wave of the pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the country. 

Dhaka recorded 70 out of the 185 deaths confirmed in the 24 hours preceding 8:00am yesterday, shows data from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).     

In the past seven days, 1,277 people have died of the disease.

With this, the official Covid-19 death toll in the country reached 16,189 and the total number of confirmed cases 10,09,315, the data shows.

The DGHS data did not take into account information on those who died with coronavirus symptoms.

According to Centre for Genocide Studies at University of Dhaka, at least 2,939 people have died with such symptoms so far across the country.

Of those, at least 486 died in two weeks till July 6. The figure was 151 in the preceding two weeks (June 9-22), it said in a report released yesterday.

After the second wave of Covid-19 began in March, Dhaka division recorded the country's highest division-wise daily deaths -- 71 -- on April 17.

Khulna, which has been the hotspot of infection and death for around two weeks, reported 51 deaths yesterday.

On the first day of July, both Dhaka and Khulna divisions saw 35 deaths each. But the south-western division recorded 46 deaths on July 3 -- the highest for the division that day.

Khulna also reported the highest deaths in five out of the eight days till Friday when the  Covid-19 death toll jumped by a whopping 48.66 percent compared to the previous seven days.

The number of new cases has also risen by 37.54 percent during the same period, according to a DGHS press release.

At least 8,722 new cases were recorded yesterday with a positivity rate of 31.46 percent. It took the number of Covid cases to 73,059 this week compared to 53,118 cases detected the previous week, the DGHS data shows.

The rising death in Dhaka division suggested that the pandemic situation in this region is turning as bad as it is in Khulna and Rajshahi. Several studies suggest that the Delta variant of the coronavirus has spread at the community level.

As the number of Covid cases and deaths continue to rise in Dhaka, the government has decided to convert Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Convention Centre into a 1,000-bed field hospital for Covid patients.

"There will be 400 intensive care units (ICU) and 400 beds in the high dependency unit (HDU)," Health Minister Zahid Maleque told reporters at a press conference at the convention centre yesterday.

Meanwhile, in the same event yesterday, the health minister said 60 lakh doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine would arrive in the country under Covax facility in the beginning of next month.

He said the World Health Organization had sent a letter to the Bangladesh government on Friday, informing the latter about the development.

 Besides, 50 lakh doses of the purchased Chinese Sinopharm vaccine would  arrive either at the end of this month or at the beginning of next month, the minister said.

"We are expecting to get one to one and a half crore doses of vaccine shots in our hand within the next one and a half months."

The country's mass vaccination campaign has already gained pace with 25 lakh doses of Moderna vaccine from Covax and 20 lakh doses from Sinopharm.

The Covax is a global initiative coordinated by the World Health Organization, Vaccine Alliance Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. It was formed to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have equitable access to Covid vaccines.

As the age bar is lowered from 40 years to 35 years, more than 12 lakh people have registered for the vaccination.

The vaccination campaign, which started on February 7, stumbled due to the suspension of vaccine supplies by the Serum Institute of India amid a surge in daily new cases and deaths there.

Bangladesh and Serum had an agreement that the latter would ship three crore shots of the Oxford vaccine in phases to Bangladesh between January and June.

Serum delivered the first 50 lakh doses in January, but shipped only 20 lakh the following month. No shipment has been made since. Besides, India sent 3.3 million doses as a gift to Bangladesh.

Amid a fast depleting vaccine stock, Bangladesh suspended administering the first dose of the vaccine on April 26. Registration for vaccination was suspended nine days later.