Bangladesh has recorded 2,292 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally of infections so far to 456,438, health officials said on Thursday.

The death toll surged to 6,524 after 37 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Thursday, the government said in a statement.

Another 2,274 patients recovered from the disease at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 371,453, bdnews24 reported.

As many as 17,052 samples were tested at 118 authorised labs in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 13.44 per cent, according to data released by the Health Directorate.

The latest official figures put the recovery rate at 81.38 per cent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.43 per cent.

Globally, over 60.45 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1.42 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.

(IANS)