The health authorities reported 21 new deaths from coronavirus and 2199 new cases on Saturday as the country celebrates Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest festival of Muslims.
Bangladesh’s death tally has gone up to 3,132, while the total cases now stands at 239860.
The country reported its first cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18.
Although the number of tests has come down in recent weeks, the number of cases continues to rise.
In the last 24 hours, labs tested 8802 samples, Prof Dr Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said at a regular briefing.
On Friday, the fatality rate was 1.31 percent.
There are fears that there will be a spike in coronavirus cases in the weeks following the Eid-ul-Azha when thousands of people went home to celebrate the festival of sacrifice.
Hygiene issues and social distancing guidelines were grossly overlooked by the commuters as Eid joy apparently conquered the fears of the highly contagious virus.
Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December last year. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic in March.
The race to develop a vaccine is on but it could take months and with developed countries placing orders for large volumes, the poor countries could be left to struggle with the virus for months to come.
On Friday, the WHO chief predicted the effects of the pandemic will be felt for “decades to come.”
“Most of the world’s people remain susceptible to this virus, even in areas that have experienced severe outbreaks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in London.
“Although vaccine development is happening at record speed, we must learn to live with this virus and we must fight it with the tools that we have.”
