At least eight Covid patients have died in the past 24 hours at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), health officials said on Saturday.
This is a steep fall from Friday's highest single-day death toll of 16. However, the daily infection rate has surged past 51 percent in the district.
Hospital Director Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani said that of the deceased, four were Covid-19 positive patients while four others showed symptoms of the virus.
"Of the deceased, five were from Chapainawabganj district, while the remaining three belonged to Rajshahi district," he said.
With the fresh deaths, the district's fatality count has reached 101 since May 24. Of them, 60 were confirmed Covid patients.
Meanwhile, the health authorities have detected 131 new cases after testing 256 samples in the past 24 hours in the district.
To stem the spread of coronavirus, the local administration has already enforced night time lockdown from 7pm to 6am.
It may also be mentioned here that authorities in many other districts have imposed strict restrictions for a week to contain the spread of Covid.
This was after the government recently empowered the district authorities to take a call on lockdown restrictions in their respective areas.
9 more Covid patients die in Chapainawabganj
The district has logged nine new Covid-19 deaths and as many as 107 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Saturday.
The new infections have raised the total case count in Chapainawabganj to 2,347. The district's death toll, on the other hand, has risen to 54, as per official figures.
Some 1,129 people have recovered so far in the district, officials said.
Meanwhile, the lockdown, which has been imposed in the country due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, entered its 12th day in the district on Saturday.
All vehicles stayed off the roads, though the restrictions were waived for ambulances, goods-laden vehicles and cars carrying patients to hospitals. Vehicular movement restrictions prevailed on Rajshahi-Naogaon border also.
Besides, the local administration has also mobilised mobile courts for taking action against people violating Covid-safety protocols.
On May 31, Bangladesh Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said, “District administrations have been given the power to enforce lockdown in their respective areas if the Covid situation worsens there.”
Due to the recent rise in Covid infections in the districts bordering India, authorities have imposed lockdowns in Khulna, Satkhira and parts of Naogaon districts too.
On May 8, the Indian variant was detected in Bangladesh for the first time. All those who tested positive for Covid returned from the neighbouring country.
The "highly contagious" Indian Delta variant was first detected in October last year. The World Health Organization labelled it a "variant of concern."
mj/
