Bangladesh logs 2,156 new virus cases, deaths near 6,500

Bangladesh has recorded 2,156 new cases of the coronavirus in a daily count, taking the tally of infections to 454,146.

The death toll surged to 6,487 after 39 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Wednesday, the government said in a statement.

The number of new recoveries overshot active cases in the same period as another 2,302 patients recovered from the disease at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 369,179.

As many as 16,001 samples were tested at 117 authorised labs in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 13.47 percent, according to data released by the health directorate.

The latest official figures put the recovery rate at 81.29 percent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.43 percent.

Globally, over 59.41 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1.41 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.