Bangladesh posts 12,606 new COVID cases, another 248 die

Bangladesh has registered 248 new deaths from the COVID-19 illness in a day, taking the toll to 22,150.

The caseload climbed to 1,335,260 after 12,606 people tested positive for the disease in the 24 hours to 8 am Friday, according to the latest government data.

Chattogram registered the most daily deaths among the country's eight divisions, logging 75 fatalities in the past 24 hours. Dhaka reported 69 deaths during that time, followed by Khulna with 36.

In terms of daily cases, Dhaka led all divisions with a tally of 5,339 new infections. Chattogram counted 3,365 cases followed by Khulna with 761 and Sylhet with 758.

Nationwide, another 15,494 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,172,437.

As many as 48,015 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 26.25 percent. The latest figures put the recovery rate at 87.81 percent and the mortality rate at 1.66 percent.

Globally, over 200.98 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 4.26 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.