The tally of infections surged to 156,391 on the back of 3,114 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8am Friday, according to the health directorate.
Another 1,606 infected patients recovered from the disease in the same period, raising the total to 68,048, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said in a media briefing. The recovery rate currently stands at 43.51 percent while the mortality rate is 1.26 percent, she added.
As many as 14,650 samples were tested at 63 authorised labs across the country in the last 24 hours with 21.26 of these returning positive results, said Nasima.
Globally, over 10.87 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 521,355 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.