Twenty-five people died at the Covid unit of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in 24 hours till 6:00 am on Tuesday, raising the toll to 340 at the facility since the start of June.
Nine of the dead had tested positive for the coronavirus. The other 16 displayed symptoms associated with the disease, said RMCH Director Brig Gen Shameem Yazdany.
Twelve of them were from Rajshahi, five from Chapainawabganj, five from Natore, two from Naogaon, and one from Chuadanga. Fifteen were men and ten were women, he said.
Of the dead, 11 were above the age of 61, while five were between 51 and 60, four were between 41 and 50, three were between 31 and 40 and two were between 21 and 30, reports bdnews24.com.
Another 70 patients were admitted to the unit in the past 24 hours, Yazdany said. Of them, 36 are from Rajshahi, 10 from Chapainawabganj, 11 from Naogaon, seven from Natore, and one each from Pabna, Kushtia, Sirajganj, Chuadanga, Jhenaidah, and Meherpur.
Fifty patients were released from the unit after recovering from the disease.
As of 6:00 am on Tuesday the unit, which has a capacity of 405 beds, was caring for 459 patients. Patients were forced to use makeshift beds on the floor or in the verandahs.
Of those admitted to the unit, 307 are from Rajshahi, 51 from Chapainawabganj, 31 from Natore, 37 from Naogaon, and 24 from Pabna. There are also patients from Kushtia, Chuadanga, Dinajpur, Meherpur, and Dhaka.
Eighteen patients are admitted to the ICU.
The positivity rate for samples from the Rajshahi district was 36.92 per cent on Monday, the RMCH director said, an increase from the 27.84 per cent on Sunday.
On Saturday the rate was 29.8 per cent, it was 34.5 per cent on Friday, 29.75 per cent on Thursday, 33.95 per cent on Wednesday, 33.5 per cent on Tuesday and 33.51 per cent on Monday.