Bangladesh records 45 new virus deaths, cases surge by 3,243

Bangladesh has registered 45 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus infection in a daily count, raising the death toll to 1,388.

The tally of infections surged to 105,535 on the back of 3,243 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8am Friday, according to the health directorate.

As many as 2,781 infected people recovered at home and in hospital care in the same period, bringing the total to 42,945, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said in a media briefing on Friday. The rate of recovery from the disease currently stands at 40.69 percent while the mortality rate is 1.32 percent in Bangladesh.

A total of 15,045 samples were tested at 61 authorised labs across the country in the last 24 hours, 21.65 percent of which returned positive results, according to government data.

The latest fatalities include 32 men and 13 women. In terms of their ages, one was between 11 and 21, three between 21 and 30, four between 31 and 40, 10 between 41 and 50, nine between 51 and 60, 11 between 61 and 70, four between 71 and 80 while three others were over 81 years old.

Globally, more than 8.5 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 454,214 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.