Bangladesh records lowest virus infections in 7 months

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh on Saturday registered some 834 fresh coronavirus infections, a single-day lowest in the country since May 9, though sample testing was low.

The South Asian country also recorded 30 new COVID-19 deaths with a rising trend in the winter since mid-November, according to government data.

Total coronavirus-related deaths now total 7,428 as overall infections rose to 508,099, said a press release by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

In the same period, some 1,685 COVID-19 patients made recoveries from the disease raising the total to 450,488.

The nation of some 165 million people tested 9,922 samples at its 163 authorized labs across the country in the past hours with a positivity rate of 8.41%. The total number of sample tests rose to 3.15 million.

Experts, including the national technical advisory committee for COVID-19, have advised for some 25,000-30,000 sample tests to be administered daily in order to control infection rates.

The recovery rate, however, rose to 88.66%, while the mortality rate stands at 1.46%, read the DGHS data.

Meanwhile, some 33 Bangladeshis who returned from India Friday night through the Benapole border were placed under quarantine Saturday as they were found not to have documents certifying that they were COVID-19 negative.

The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has made it compulsory since the beginning of the month for anyone entering the country from India to carry COVID-19 negative certificates.

Officials and experts have observed that the country is in the midst of its second COVID-19 wave.