Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday warned of tougher steps to protect the life of people from the Coronavirus in view of the surge in new infections and death in the country.<br />''<br />''Prime Minister Hasina urged the people to follow the health directives and wear masks to protect themselves and people around them. <br />''<br />''Meanwhile, on Thursday, Bangladesh recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day ever since the Corona pandemic hit the country in March last year. <br />''<br />''According to the latest figures released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 74 people died in the last 24 hours on Thursday taking the death toll to 9521. <br />''<br />''The country also witnessed 6854 fresh corona positive cases during the same period. <br />''<br />''The sample positivity rate stood at a high level of 20.85 percent which marks a decline from the rate of over 23 percent seen since the last several days.<br />''<br />''Bangladesh also started administering the second dose of the Corona vaccine from Thursday. <br />''<br />''On the first day, more than 81 thousand people received the second dose of vaccine while over 14 thousand people received the first dose. <br />''<br />''More than 55.83 lakh people have received the first dose of Corona vaccine in the country while over 81 thousand have received the second dose.<br />''<br />''On the 4th day of the countrywide lockdown, Bangladesh announced yet another roll back with shops and malls being allowed to open for 8 hours in the day from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening from Friday. <br />''<br />''Earlier, the government had announced that public transport buses in the cities will also be allowed to operate from Wednesday after declaring all public transport services as suspended for a week.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Bangladesh has witnessed protests against the lockdown in several places including the capital city Dhaka since the government announced a week-long nationwide lockdown on 5th April.</span><br />