Dhaka: Bangladesh has registered 21 fatalities from the novel coronavirus, a new daily high, bringing the body count to 349.

The COVID-19 caseload also surged by a single-day record 1,602 to 23,870 in the 24 hours to 8 am Monday, according to the health directorate.

The recovery count also jumped to 4,585 after another 212 patients were released from hospitals in the same period, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said in a media briefing on Monday.

A total of 9,788 samples were tested at 41 authorised labs across the country in the last 24 hours, she added.

Globally, over 4.71 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 315,283 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.

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/05/18/bangladesh-reports-1602-new-virus-cases-and-21-deaths-both-daily-records