The Covid-19 positivity rate reached 19.27 percent yesterday, the highest in over two months.

The high rate of positivity is an indication that many others in the community have the virus, but are undetected, according to experts across the world.

Yesterday's positivity rate was the highest since April 17, when it was 21 percent, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

In May last year, the World Health Organization recommended that governments should not lift restrictions unless the positivity rate stays below 5 percent for at least two weeks.

In the 24 hours preceding 8:00am yesterday, at least 4,636 new cases were detected, the highest in nine weeks, according to the DGHS.

This has been the highest since April 14, when 5,185 people tested positive for the virus.

Since the first three cases were reported in the country on March 8 last year, the highest 7,626 cases were reported on April 7.

As of yesterday, the total number of confirmed cases was 8,56,304.

The health directorate reported 78 new deaths from Covid-19. This takes the total number of confirmed deaths to 13,626.

Of those reported dead yesterday, 23 were in Dhaka, 15 in Rajshahi, 14 in Khulna, 11 in Chattogram, nine in Rangpur, three in Barishal, two in Sylhet and one in Mymensingh divisions.

The positivity rate reached 23 percent on April 1, the highest ever reported in the country.

Amid travel restrictions across the country, the numbers began to fall and reached the lowest in the first week of May, when the positivity rate remained about 7 percent.