Climb up the curve continues

The novel coronavirus appears to be getting a tight grip on the country as the number of infected people reported hit a new high in a single day.

Some 665 new cases were recorded. With them, the number of infected people is now 9,455.

Two people died of Covid-19 over the same period, bringing the number of fatalities to 177.

On April 29, Directorate General of Health Services recorded the highest 641 Covid-19 positive cases.

Of the two deceased, one was aged between 11 and 20, while the other was above 60. One of them was from Rangpur and another from Narayanganj, said Prof Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of DGHS, while briefing journalists via video conference yesterday.

Some 5,368 samples were tested across the country since Saturday, Nasima said.

Sixty-one people have been isolated across the country in the 24 hours, she added.

The authorities reported the first three Covid-19 cases in the country on March 8 and the first death on March 18.

Of the infected people, 68 percent are male and 32 percent female. The death rate is also higher among male as 73 percent of the deceased were male.

Around 42 percent of the deceased were above 60, around 27 percent between 51 and 60, about 19 percent between 41 and 50, and around 7 percent between 31 and 40. The rest were below 30, according to Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research website.

Dhaka city continues to remain the worst-affected area in terms of number of cases and deaths caused by the virus.

As of yesterday, 4,499 cases -- 56.53 percent of all cases -- were detected in Dhaka city alone.

More than 83 percent of the cases were in Dhaka division, said IEDCR.

At the briefing, Prof Nasima said a newly formed Clinical Management Committee of the health authorities gave a fresh guideline mentioning the criteria based on which a patient could be termed cured or discharged from hospitals after recovery.

However, she did not elaborate on the new guideline.

As per the criteria, 1,063 people have so far recovered from the disease, she said.

Of them, 624 were released from Dhaka city hospitals and 439 from other hospitals in Dhaka (excluding the city) and other divisions.