Bangladesh overtakes China in virus cases; 44 new deaths

The tally of coronavirus infections in Bangladesh has surpassed China's after 2,865 new cases were reported in a daily count, raising the caseload to 84,379.

Another 44 deaths from COVID-19 were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Saturday, bringing the body count to 1,139.

The recovery tally also climbed to 17,827 with 578 patients being released from hospitals throughout the country in the same period, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said in a media briefing.

As many as 13,638 samples were tested at 59 authorised labs across the country, 20.98 percent of which returned positive results, according to the health directorate.

Globally, over 7.65 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 425,902 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The latest official figures would put Bangladesh in 18th place in the list of countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases. The South Asian country ranks below Canada which has reported almost 100,000 cases of COVID-19.

Neighbouring India has reported more than 300,00 coronavirus cases, making it the fourth worst-affected country in the world while over 132,000 people have been infected in Pakistan.