Bangladesh logs 185 new COVID deaths, 8,772 cases in a day

Bangladesh has registered 185 new deaths from COVID-19 in a day, taking the toll to 16,189.

Dhaka logged 70 deaths, the most among eight divisions, followed by Khulna with 51 and Chattogram with 20.

The COVID-19 caseload surged to 1,009,315 after 8,772 people tested positive for the disease until 8 am Saturday, according to the latest government data.

Dhaka logged the highest daily cases among the eight divisions with 4,492. Chattogram saw 1,692, while Khulna saw 772, and Rajshahi saw 620.

Nationwide, another 5,755 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 868,139.

As many as 27,884 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 31.46 percent. The latest figures put the recovery rate at 86.01 percent and the mortality rate at 1.60 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 186.15 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 4.02 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.