Virus death toll in Bangladesh rises to 2,709
Nearly 6,000 health staffers have been infected by virus, says doctors’ association
The death toll in Bangladesh from the novel coronavirus rose to 2,700 on Tuesday, as 41 new deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, the country’s Health Ministry said.
As many as 3,057 new cases were registered over the past day, bringing the total number of cases to 210,510.
Sample tests have gone down across the country in the last couple of days due to the prevailing floods in the country's 18 districts of total 64, Dr. Ayesha Akhter, a health official said.
Since June 30, a total of 81 people have been killed by the floods, while more than 2 million people have been affected, according to government records.
“It’s very normal that people, who are stuck due to flood waters in different parts of the country, have a little scope to go to labs to conduct COVID-19 tests,” Akhter told Anadolu Agency.
“We have also urged people not to go for a third test after recovering from the virus. This is also a reason for the reduced number of tests,” she added.
The South Asian country of more than 165 million people on Tuesday tested a total of 12,898 samples at 80 labs across the country. In the previous days before the floods, normally 16,000-17,000 tests were conducted on daily basis, according to official data.
Till the date, 115,397 patients have recovered from the virus while the infection rate is 23.7%.
Meanwhile, a total of 5,954 health staffers in Bangladesh, including 2,145 doctors, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Tuesday.
Besides, at least 68 doctors have died so far since the virus first hit the country on March 8, according to Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), an association of doctors.
