Dhaka: Three more people died from Covid-19 and 58 new cases were reported yesterday with the government scrambling to expand testing facilities to grassroots level and set up facilities to treat coronavirus patients.

The total number of deaths in the coronavirus outbreak now stands at 30 and total cases at 482, Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said in a daily bulletin.

One of the three deceased was from Dhaka while the others from elsewhere. They were aged 38, 55 and 74, she said.

The capital continues to remain the worst affected with 14 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 251, which is almost 52 percent of all detected cases in the country.

Eight of the newly detected cases were reported in Narayanganj.

Meanwhile, three more people, including two males and a female, recovered in 24 hours till 2:30pm yesterday, taking the total number of recovery cases to 33. The number of such cases increased for the first time since Sunday.

People aged between 31 and 40 accounted for 22 percent (108) of the total confirmed cases. Flora pointed out the highest percentage of infection was reported in that age group.

The age groups 21-30 and 41-50 accounted for 19 percent of the total cases each.

Almost 70 percent of all the cases are males, she added.

In the bulletin, Prof Abul Kalam Azad, director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said, "We want to know the [Covid-19] situation in every union, in every village and in every town. For this, we have decided to increase the number of tests. We will use staffers of community clinics across the country to collect samples.

"The number of tests will increase notably within the next few days," he said, adding, "The staffers in community clinics will be trained [for collecting samples] soon."

He also said dedicated hospitals with ventilators will be arranged at the district level for Covid-19 patients.

In the beginning of the bulletin, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the government was converting three new establishments into hospitals, which will accommodate 4,500 beds.

Of those, Bashundhara Convention Center in Kuril will have 2,000 beds, one in Dhaka North City Corporation 1,300 and another in Uttara's Diabari will have 1,200 beds, he said.

"Novel coronavirus has spread to some places, mostly in Narayanganj, and Dhaka's Mirpur and Basabo areas. It has also spread to several other districts across the country," he said.

Expressing concern over many still not maintaining social distancing and moving freely outside, he said, "We saw many people have travelled to other places from Narayanganj. It should not be happening … We have to stay indoors to the make the government lockdown programme successful."

The government is currently enforcing a nationwide shutdown in its efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

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