Seventeen more people have died at the COVID unit of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in the past 24 hours.
Nine of the dead were from Rajshahi, four were from Chapainawabganj, two from Natore and two were Naogaon residents, said RMCH Director Brig Gen Shameem Yazdany on Saturday.
Eight of the dead tested positive for the coronavirus, while the rest displayed symptoms consistent with the disease, reports bdnews24.com.
A total of 291 patients have died while under the care of the COVID unit since the start of June, including 136 from Rajshahi and 101 from Chapainawabganj.
The highest death toll in a day was on Jun 24, when the unit logged 18 deaths. The lowest count since the start of the month was four on Jun 12.
The death toll in June has also broken all previous records at the hospital’s COVID unit, Yazdany said. The hospital recorded 29 deaths in January, 17 in February, 31 in March, 79 in April and 124 in June. The highest number of deaths in a month last year was in August, which saw 26 deaths.
Another 52 patients were admitted to the hospital in a 24-hour period, 31 from Rajshahi, eight from Chapainawabganj, six from Natore, three from Naogaon and four from Pabna. Thirty-four patients recovered and were released from the hospital in that time.
PATIENT ADMISSIONS ON THE RISE
As of 6 am on Saturday, the hospital was caring for 431 patients at the unit, which has a capacity of 357 beds. The number of admissions was 423 in the previous 24-hour period. Some patients have been forced to lie on the floor or take up a space on the hospital verandahs due to the shortage of beds.
POSITIVITY RATE SPIKES ONCE AGAIN
Two laboratories conducted 429 coronavirus tests on samples from Rajshahi in the past 24 hours, with 148 of them coming back positive, for a positivity rate of 34.5 per cent.
On Thursday, the positivity rate was as low as 29.75 per cent. It stood at 33.95 per cent on Wednesday, 33.05 per cent on Tuesday and 33.51 per cent on Monday.
Of 72 tests conducted on samples from Chapainawabganj, 14 came back positive.
