Bangladesh cuts quarantine period, lowers minimum age for booster shots

DHAKA: JAN. 31 – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has continued to decline for the fifth consecutive day in Bangladesh, with over 12,000 new cases reported Sunday.

According to figures published by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the country confirmed 12,183 new COVID-19 cases and 34 more deaths on Sunday, which has brought the death toll to 28,363.

The current positivity rate dropped to 28.33 percent in the past 24 hours until 8:00 a.m. local time Sunday, according to the latest official data, taking the total caseload to 1,785,332.

The official data showed that 43,006 samples were tested in the last 24 hours to Sunday morning. The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 1,565,645, including 2,167 new recoveries, said the DGHS.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is 1.59 percent and the current recovery rate is 87.69 percent.

On Sunday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said they decided to offer COVID-19 vaccines to everyone over 12 and booster shots to all above 40 years of age.

He said the country has a comparatively low fatality rate from COVID-19 due to the government’s vaccination efforts.

Also on Sunday, DGHS lowered the COVID-19-related quarantine period from 14 to 10 days, considering the current infection rate.

Case counts began to decrease from Wednesday after surging for weeks.

Bangladesh confirmed 16,033 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, nearing the country’s all-time record last year. It recorded its highest daily new cases of 16,230 on July 28 last year and the highest number of 264 deaths from the pandemic on Aug. 5 and again on Aug. 10, 2021.

-Xinhua