Bangladesh: 50% of virus deaths come from capital Dhaka

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Almost 50% of coronavirus deaths in Bangladesh come from the capital Dhaka, according to a new Health Ministry report.

The overcrowded south Asian country of over 165 million people as of Wednesday had recorded 2,457 deaths from COVID-19, including 33 in the last 24 hours.

According to a ministry death tally broken down geographically, of the total deaths, 1,224 came from Dhaka, meaning that 49.82% of COVID-19 deaths took place in the country’s most crowded region.

The country also recorded 3,533 fresh cases, pushing the number of confirmed cases to 193,590 out of over 980,000 tests given. Of them, 105,023 or 54.25% have recovered from the disease.

Separately, Bangladesh decided to suspend the transportation of goods by waterway for nine days during Muslims’ upcoming Eid al-Adha festival to stem the virus’ spread, said State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, according to local media reports.

Police early Wednesday arrested the owner of a private hospital trying to flee abroad over allegedly issuing fake COVID-19 certificates and taking money from coronavirus patients for tests and treatment, violating an agreement with the government.

On June 1, Bangladeshi authorities lifted a two-month-long nationwide lockdown to restart economic activity, and have now divided areas into three zones – red for high risk, yellow for medium, and white for none.

Educational institutions across the country, however, still remain closed.