Bangladesh logs record 11,525 new COVID cases in a day

Bangladesh has registered a record 11,525 new cases of COVID-19 in a day, as the total caseload from the disease surged to 966,406.

It also recorded 163 fatalities from the virus, taking the total toll from the disease to 15,392 as of 8 am on Tuesday, according to the latest government data.

Dhaka logged the highest daily cases among the eight divisions with 5,097. Khulna saw 1,865 cases, while Chattogram reported 1,540, Rajshahi 1,225 and Rangpur 618.

Khulna, a virus hotspot, tallied 46 fatalities in the past 24 hours, the most among the eight divisions in the country. Dhaka was a close second with 45 deaths, while Chattogram and Rajshahi logged 24 each.

Nationwide, another 5,433 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 844,515.

As many as 36,631 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 31.46 percent. The latest figures put the recovery rate at 87.39 percent and the mortality rate at 1.59 percent.

Bangladesh is currently facing a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths, prompting the government to impose its harshest lockdown yet.

After record infections and deaths in April, June was the second cruellest month for Bangladesh since the coronavirus pandemic struck the country in March 2020.

Globally, over 183.18 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 3.98 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.