Bangladesh reports 2 COVID deaths, 4 new cases

Both the deceased are women -- one from Chattogram and the other from Khulna

Bangladesh has reported two more fatalities due to COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally of deaths from the virus this year to 11.

Both the deceased are women -- one aged between 41 and 50, and the other between 71 and 80, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported on Saturday.

One was from the Chattogram Division and the other from Khulna.

In the 24 hours until Saturday morning, four new cases of infection were detected among 211 samples tested -- all from the Dhaka Division, calculating a positivity rate of 1.90 percent.

No new cases were detected in other divisions from 90 additional samples tested.

Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Bangladesh has tested over 15.7 million samples and confirmed more than 2.05 million cases. The total death toll now stands at 29,510.

The deadliest year of the pandemic was 2021 when 20,513 people died. In comparison, 7,559 died in 2020, followed by 1,368 in 2022, 37 in 2023, and 22 in 2024.

Amid rising cases of new sub-variants in neighbouring countries, including India, the DGHS has issued a fresh advisory urging people to avoid non-essential travel to affected regions. It also instructed authorities to strengthen health screening and monitoring at all land and airports across the country.