Bangladesh logs 173 virus deaths, 7,614 new cases in a day

Bangladesh has registered 173 new deaths from COVID-19 in a day, taking the total toll to 18,498.

The COVID-19 caseload surged to 1,136,503 after 7,614 people tested positive for the disease until 8 am on Wednesday, according to the latest government data.

Dhaka registered the most daily deaths and new cases among the eight divisions, logging 58 fatalities and 2,720 infections. Khulna tallied 38 deaths and 981 cases, Chattogram 32 deaths and 2,183 cases, Rangpur 16 deaths and 421 cases, and Rajshahi 11 deaths and 402 cases.

Nationwide, another 9,704 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 961,044.

As many as 24,979 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 30.48 percent. The latest figures put the recovery rate at 84.56 percent and the mortality rate at 1.63 percent.

Globally, over 190.96 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 4.09 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.