Amid the merciless onslaught of Covid-19 in Bangladesh, the country recorded 236 more deaths linked to the virus in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.

According to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 15,776 more people came out positive with the virus during the period after the test of 55,284 samples.

The fresh numbers pushed the country’s death tally to 21,397 today with the caseload mounting to 1,296,093.

Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate fell to 28.58 % from Monday's 29.91%, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.

The country has been seeing over 14,300 cases and 230 deaths every day on average for the last seven days.

The recovery rate, however, rose to 86.80%, and the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.65% compared to the same period, said the DGHS.

Read: Covid in Bangladesh: Seniors far more likely to face the worst

Amid the growing concerns about the highly infectious Delta variant, Dhaka division reported the highest 73 deaths, Chattogram 65, Khulna 32, Rajshahi 21, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh each 12 and Barishal eight deaths.

Of today’s deceased, 140 were male and 95 were female.

Hiring hospitals

The government is going to rent hotels for providing treatment to Covid patients with mild complications as hospitals are under an unprecedented crisis with huge patients, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday.

“Already 90 percent of the seats in hospitals have been packed. And 95% ICU beds are also occupied. We’re preparing a field hospital at Bangabandhu Medical University where we can immediately arrange 500-600 beds,” he said.

The minister said, “Everyone infected with corona needs not to be hospitalised. So, we’re thinking of renting hotels for dealing with the patients who’ve mild complications. We’ll have doctors, nurses, medicines, and some oxygen in those hotels.”

Read: Looking for hotels for Covid patients as hospitals overwhelmed: Minister

He came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat with Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque in the chair.

Maleque said they have started looking for hotels as they will no longer be able to accommodate the growing number of patients in hospitals. “If we can give treatment to the Covid patients with mild infections at hotels, they’ll be able to go back home after recovery from there, and it will help reduce the pressure on the hospitals. So, we’ve taken this step.”

Lockdown extended

The government has extended the current lockdown till August 10 amid a surge in the Delta variant of Covid-19 across the country.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque disclosed the decision of the government while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on Tuesday.

He said shops, factories and offices will be reopened from August 11 while public transport will be allowed to ply roads by rotation on a limited scale once the lockdown is over.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said: “Today’s decision is a provisional one as we’ll take another decision considering the situation.”

The government is set to launch a mass vaccination drive at the village level from 14,000 vaccine centres from August 7 as one crore people will be vaccinated in the next one week, he said.

Read: Bangladesh extends lockdown again as Delta variant plays havoc

The government has made vaccination mandatory for people’s movement from August 11 and a decision has been taken to provide punitive action against those who will fail to get Covid shots in time, Mozammel said.

If anyone is found moving without vaccination, then it will be considered as an offence, and the government can take action after issuing an ordinance, Mozammel added.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has taken preparations to bring one crore people under the vaccination programme in seven days and if anyone above 18 found roaming without taking jab then he/she may face a penalty.

Bangladesh has been under a lockdown since July 23 last, barring people from leaving their homes except for essential reasons and it is set to expire on August 5.

On July 30, the government allowed industry owners to reopen all export-oriented factories from 1 August amid the nationwide lockdown.