The Covid test positivity rate has been hovering around 30 per cent for about a month with no sign of it falling as daily tests have been significantly increased.

 
On Friday the country reported 30.77 per cent test positivity after examining over 45,000 samples as 13,862 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed, one of the five highest figures of daily cases recorded over the last five days.

For the sixth day in a row on the day, Bangladesh reported over 200 Covid deaths, 212 to be exact, as the country appeared on track to count its fastest 1,000 deaths.

‘The continued high infection after weeks of restrictions, relaxed for eight days on account of Eid, actually indicates deterioration in the Covid situation,’ Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research adviser Mushtuq Hussain told New Age. 

The last four days of July’s last week saw record numbers of daily tests, often crossing 50,000, a milestone touched first on July 26 since the Covid-19 emerged in the country over a year and a half ago.

‘It looks like that the danger is not over yet and it is likely that the latest wave of coronavirus has not yet peaked,’ he said.

The highest ever test positivity rate of 32.55 per cent was recorded on July 24, two days after the Eid vacation was over.

The three-day-long Eid vacation was a part of the eight-day break in curbs on public movement that has been continuing since the beginning of the month to contain high infection.

Meanwhile, the government decided on Friday to reopen the export-oriented factories that employ around 50 lakhs of workers from August 1, four days before the expiry of the fresh spell of the countrywide restrictions.

‘We have advised a continuation of the fresh restrictions,’ Directorate General of Health Services DG ABM Kurshid Alam told reporters before the government announced its decision to open factories.

Warning that the easing of restrictions would cause the situation spiral out of control, Khurshid reminded that dedicated Covid hospitals were already filled with patients.

This is the second time this month that the government decided to go contrary to the health ministry’s warning against easing curbs to contain the spread of the highly infectious and deadly Delta variant.

The Delta variant has become a cause for concern globally, even in countries where Covid inoculation is the highest in the world, prompting them to re-introduce fresh restrictions.

In Dhaka, Covid patients ran from hospital to hospital looking for vacant seats also on Friday even after the Covid hospitals followed the thumb rule of accepting critical Covid cases only.

The number of active cases in the country rose to 1,55,453 on  the day with the US-based reference website Wolrdometer placing Bangladesh fifth in terms of daily lives lost until 9:00pm local time.

In terms of new daily infection the country was placed seventh globally.

Bangladesh on Friday passed the eighth day of the running tougher Covid curbs amid more people violating health rules.

The divisions of Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna reported about 25 per cent or higher test positivity on Friday while Chattogram and Barishal divisions reported over 35 per cent positivity.

Sylhet reported nearly 45 per cent test positivity in the latest 24-hour reporting period till 8:00am on Friday.

Friday was also the 17th day in July that the number of daily deaths crossed 200, a mark first seen this month.

 With the latest figures, the overall number of Covid cases in the country has risen to 12,40,115 and the total number of deaths to 20,467.

The latest daily deaths occurred in 52 districts, with the highest 37 logged in Dhaka.

The other districts with high daily death numbers were Cumilla with 19 deaths, Jhenidah with 11 deaths, Chandpur with 10 deaths, Chattogram and Bogura with nine deaths each and Sylhey with eight deaths.

A total of 119 of the 212 fresh dead were men while the rest were women.

Government hospitals accounted for 154 of the new deaths and private hospitals 48 deaths while 9 died at home and one other on the way to hospital, according to the DGHS daily Covid report.