Bangladesh posts 684 new virus cases, lowest daily tally in 8 months

Bangladesh has recorded 684 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the lowest daily count since May 9, taking the tally of infections so far to 515,184.

The death toll climbed to 7,599 after 23 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Saturday, according to data released by the government.

The number of fresh recoveries outpaced active cases in the same period as another 964 patients recovered from the illness through treatment at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 515,184.

As many as 9,701 samples were tested at 180 authorised labs across the country in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 7.05 percent.

The latest official figures put the recovery rate at 89.21 percent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.48 percent.

Globally, over 84 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1.82 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.