Bangladesh reports 1,788 new virus cases, 29 deaths

Bangladesh has recorded 1,788 new cases of the coronavirus in a daily count, taking the tally of infections so far to 462,407.

The death toll surged to 6,609 after 29 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Sunday, the government said in a statement.

The number of new recoveries outpaced active cases in the same period as another 2,287 patients recovered from the disease at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 378,172.

As many as 13,737 samples were tested at 118 authorised labs in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 13.02 percent, according to data released by the health directorate.

The latest official figures put the recovery rate at 81.78 percent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.43 percent.

Globally, over 62.29 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1.45 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.