Shawdesh desk:

Ten people died at the Covid-19 unit of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) afresh during the last 24 hours till 6am on Monday, taking the death toll to 213 so far this month.

Earlier, the death toll due to the lethal virus was 566 in July and 405 in June, health officials said.

RMCH Director Brigadier General Dr Shamim Yazdani told newsmen that among the new 10 deceased, three were female and seven were male.

Two of the deceased were the residents of Rajshahi, four from Natore, three from Naogaon and one from Chuadanga districts, he said.

“Among the deaths, four tested positive for Covid-19, five had the virus symptoms and another had post-Covid-19 complexities,” he said.

Yazdani added that five of them were aged above 61, one between 51 and 60, two between 41 and 50, one between 21 and 30 and another between 11 and 20. Yesterday’s fatality figure was 12.

A number of 32 more patients were admitted to the designated Covid wards of the hospital during the time, taking the total number of patients to 299, including 166 tested positive, against 513 beds.

Another 21 patients are undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital. Thirty-nine other patients returned home from the Covid-19 unit after being cured during the same time.

Yazdani said the infection rate has escalated in Rajshahi to some extent compared to the previous day.

A total of 42 people have been detected positive for Covid-19 after testing 175 samples in Rajshahi’s two laboratories on Sunday, showing 24 percent positivity rate.

The positivity rate was 19.25 percent on Saturday, 29.52 percent on Friday, 25.15 percent on Thursday, 28.63 percent on Wednesday, 28.80 percent on Tuesday and 23.10 percent on Monday last.

Yazdani said over 60 percent of the new Covid-19 patients admitted to the corona unit of RMCH are coming from villages. Level of awareness among the villagers is less compared to the urban people, he added.

He also said utmost attention should be given to villages along with urban areas as the fatality rate among the villagers is more.

He also said the demand for oxygen supply has increased to a great extent during the last couple of months in the wake of the surge of Covid patients in the hospital.

On an average, over 8,000 liters of oxygen are being supplied to the Covid-19 patients’ everyday in the hospital at present. However, the daily oxygen demand was only 2,500 liters around three months back.

The oxygen demand has gone up by around 3,000 liters, on an average, particularly during the last couple of weeks.