Bangladesh reports 1,884 new virus cases, death toll nears 7,000

Bangladesh has recorded 1,884 new cases of the coronavirus infection in a daily count, taking the tally of infections so far to 487,849.

The death toll surged to 6,986 after 19 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Friday, the government said in a statement.

The number of new recoveries overshot active cases in the same period as another 3,866 patients recovered from the disease at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 414,318.

As many as 16,323 samples were tested at 140 authorised labs in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 11.54 percent, according to data released by the health directorate.

The latest official figures put the recovery rate at 84.93 percent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.43 percent.

Globally, over 69.62 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1,58 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.