DHAKA: Bangladesh reported 569 new COVID-19 cases and 23 new deaths on Sunday, making the tally at 527,632 and the death toll at 7,906, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The official data showed that 13,446 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh. The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 472,437 including 681 new recoveries on Sunday, said the DGHS.
According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.50 percent and the current recovery rate is 89.54 percent.
Bangladesh recorded the highest daily new cases of 4,019 on July 2 and the highest number of deaths of 64 on June 30 last year.
While the kits could give Bangladesh a much wider picture of the actual number of COVID-19 infections in the country, some researchers believe the accuracy of the results is questionable.The tests, which cost €3 ($3.25) to produce, will be able to detect any positive case, Dr. Bijon Jumar Sil, a lead scientist at the Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) health center, told DW. “It uses the dot blot testing technique by looking for antibodies in the blood that are created in response to the virus,” Sil said.
Bangladesh has been struggling to contain its coronavirus outbreak amid a rising number of infections and a shortage of tests. The Muslim-majority country has over 1,500 reported cases and an official death toll of 60, but experts fear that the actual number of infections could be much higher, due to a widespread shortage of tests.(ANI/Xinhua)