COVID: Bangladesh posts 119 new deaths, a daily record

Bangladesh has registered 119 deaths from COVID-19 in a day, the highest since the start of the pandemic, taking the total death toll from the disease to 14,172.

The new record surpassed the nation’s previous peak at 112, reported on Apr 19.

A division-wide breakdown showed Khulna, a recent hotspot, had the highest number of deaths on record, with 32. Dhaka saw 24 deaths, while Chattogram and Rajshahi logged 22 deaths each.

Another 5,268 new cases were logged in the same period, taking the tally of infections to 888,406, according to the latest government released on Sunday.

The division-wide data showed Dhaka with the highest daily COVID tally, registering 1,648 cases. Khulna saw 1,202 cases, followed by Rajshahi at 962.

Nationwide, another 3,249 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 804,103.

As many as 24,400 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 21.59 percent.

The latest figures put the recovery rate at 90.51 percent and the mortality rate at 1.60 percent.

Bangladesh has seen a renewed surge in coronavirus infections and deaths, particularly in the border districts, in June due to the community transmission of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first found in neighbouring India.

In an effort to fight a rising wave of infections across the country, the government has further tightened health restrictions from Jun 28 to Jul 1.

All public transport, aside from freight vehicles and rickshaws, is suspended and all shopping malls, markets, tourism centres, resorts, community centres and sites of entertainment are closed for this duration, the Cabinet Division said in a notice on Sunday.

Public and private offices and institutions should only require the physical presence of essential employees during this period and have to arrange for their own transport, according to the notice.

Globally, about 180.8 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and nearly 3.92 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.