Bangladesh logs 1,380 new virus cases, another 18 die

Bangladesh has posted 1,380 new cases of the novel coronavirus infection in a day, taking the tally so far to 391,586.

The death toll surged to 5,699 after 18 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Tuesday, the government said in a statement.

The number of new recoveries outpaced active cases in the same period with another 1,542 patients overcoming the disease. It brings the total to 307,141.

A total of 13,611 samples were tested at 110 authorised labs across the country in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 10.14 percent, according to data released by the health directorate.

The official figures put the recovery rate at 78.44 percent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.46 percent.

Globally, over 40.41 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1.11 million 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.