In the last 24 hours until morning, the health authorities registered 26 more coronavirus-related deaths and 1,868 new cases.

The latest figures have pushed the Covid-19 fatalities to 8,668 and the total infections to 568,706, according to a handout by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Meanwhile, the mortality rate stood at 1.52 percent for the second day after remaining static at 1.53 percent for the past week.

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Covid-19 infection rate had come down to below 5 percent on January 19 last. It even fell below 3 percent but soared again on February 9.

So far, 520,718 patients (91.56 percent) have recovered, including 1,577 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 the same year.

Authorities have so far tested 4,388,011 samples, including 19,900 in the past 24 hours.

Precautionary steps strengthened

The government has taken a tougher stance to fight Covid-19 transmission.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on February 15 said that the Health Ministry has sent letters to districts, directing the officials concerned to impose fines on people flouting Covid protocols.

He said the government was concerned as the infection and death rates spiked suddenly.

Educational institutions, originally scheduled to reopen on March 30, will remain shut for longer period if the infection keeps surging at the present rate, Maleque said.

Vaccination drive in Bangladesh

Bangladesh started its countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.

By Thursday, 4,687,824 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.

The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India's Serum Institute for acquiring 30 million doses.

Serum will provide five million doses every month between January and June. For now, 40 years aged or above can register for getting the jab at www.surokkha.gov.bd.

Health Minister Maleque said the age limit for getting the vaccine will be revised when more doses will be available in the country.

Also read: Vaccinated mother gives birth to first baby with Covid-19 antibodies

Global Covid-19 situation

The global Covid caseload rose to 122,424, 126 and fatalities 2,703, 069 on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.

The US has logged 29,730,639 cases and 541,145 fatalities as of Saturday, according to JHU data.

Deaths per day in the US have plunged to an average of just under 1,300, down from a high of about 3,400 two months ago. New cases are running at about 55,000 per day on an average after peaking at more than a quarter-million daily in early January, reports AP.

Brazil has registered 11,871,390 Covid-19 cases and 290,314 deaths till Saturday.

The South American country has the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll and caseload, only next to the US. Brazil is one of the countries hardest-hit by the pandemic, experiencing another wave of infections.

According to official data, the death toll in India mounted to 159,558 while the total caseload stood at 11,555,284 on Saturday morning.

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