Covid-19 cases crossed 200,000-mark in Bangladesh on Saturday with the confirmation of fresh 2,709 patients in the last 24 hours till 8am.
During the period, 34 more patients died and 1,373 were discharged from hospitals, additional director general for health Prof Nasima Sultana said at the daily briefing.
With the update, the number of total cases surged to 2,02,066, deaths 2,581 and recoveries 110,098.
Bangladesh confirmed the first 100,000 cases on June 18 after 103 days the outbreak began on March 8. It took just a month to reach the next 100,000.
So far, 54.49 percent of the patients have recovered while 1.28 percent died. The first death was reported on March 18.
As of Saturday, 1,017,674 samples have been tested with 10,923 were in the last 24 hours in 80 labs across the country. The case detection rate from the samples tested was 24.80 percent. It was 19.86 percent overall.
Among the latest 34 deaths, 29 were male and five females. One was in his 20s, one in his 30s, one in his 40s, 15 in their 50s, five in their 60s, 10 in their 70s and one in his 80s.
Fourteen died in Dhaka division, six in Khulna and five in Rajshahi division while the rest were in other divisions.
Of the total 2,581 deaths, 1,269 are in Dhaka Division, 658 in Chattogram division, 136 in Rajshahi division, 156 in Khulna division, 98 in Barishal division, 120 in Sylhet division, 87 in Rangpur division and 57 in Mymensingh division.
Over 75 percent are aged above 50.
Prof Nasima said 59,693 people are now quarantined across the country – including 1,781 newly-quarantined individuals. A total of 347,618 people have completed their quarantine course.
She said 779 new individuals suspected of having Covid-19 were put into isolation, bringing the total to 18,498 after 23,040 left.
She ruled out any shortage of beds and ICUs for patients. There are 14,720 beds and 379 ICUs dedicated for Covid-19 patients in Bangladesh, she said. Most of the patients are taking treatment from home.
Prof Nasima urged all to follow the health rules such as wearing a mask, washing hands with soap and maintaining physical distance to prevent the virus which first emerged in China in December last year.
