Bangladesh registers 17 COVID deaths in a day, highest in 14 weeks

Bangladesh has reported 9,614 new coronavirus cases in a day, taking the total caseload to 1,674,230.

The death toll rose to 28,209 as 17 more patients died from COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8 am on Saturday, the highest in a day since Oct 13, according to the latest government data.

Among the eight divisions, Dhaka recorded the highest number of cases and deaths with 7,396 infections and 11 fatalities.

Another 482 people recovered from the illness nationwide, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,556,079.

As many as 34,311 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 28.02 percent.

The latest figures put the recovery rate at 92.94 percent and the mortality rate at 1.68 percent.

Globally, over 346.67 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 5.58 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.