Bangladesh's virus caseload crosses 250,000; another 27 die

The tally of coronavirus infections in Bangladesh has surpassed 250,000, hitting another unwanted milestone in the pandemic that has upended millions of lives in the country.

The government said 2,851 new infections were reported in the 24 hours to 8 am Friday, taking the caseload to 252,502.

The death toll surged to 3,333 after 27 fatalities were registered in the same period.

Another 1,760 patients recovered from COVID-19 through treatment at home and in hospital care, raising the total to 135,584, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said in a media briefing. The official figure puts the recovery rate at 57.66 percent.

A total of 12,699 samples were tested at 84 authorised labs across the country with a positivity rate of 22.45 percent in the last 24 hours, according to government data.

Bangladesh reported its first cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, on Mar 8.

In a bid to contain the rampant spread of the disease, the government enforced a nationwide lockdown for more than two months before lifting the restrictions on May 31.

Since then, the epidemic has continued to rampage through the country at an alarming rate. The case count hit 100 on Apr 6 before crossing the 1,000-mark a week later on Apr 14. By May 25, the number of cases had exceeded 20,000 and reached 50,000 on Jun 2. The tally subsequently surged past 100,000 on Jun 18 and doubled over the next 30 days to reach 200,000 on Jul 18.

The caseload has since risen by another 50,000 in the next 20 days.

Globally, over 19.1 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 715,013 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.

Bangladesh has the 15th-highest caseload in the world, currently lagging behind Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.