Dhaka: Bangladesh has registered eight more deaths from the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours to 8 am Wednesday, bringing the body count to 163.

The tally of COVID-19 infections surged to 7,103 in the same period after 641 people, in a single-day record jump, tested positive from 4,968 samples, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said on Wednesday.

Another 11 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 150 so far, according to government data.

Of the latest confirmed cases, 137 were detected in Dhaka, said Nasima.

Among the fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, six were men and two women. Four were aged over 60, two in their 50s and two others aged between 31 and 40, she added.

Only a quarter of the country's COVID-19 patients have been hospitalised with the others receiving treatment at home, according to the health directorate.

"At least 38 infected people have recovered from treatment at home. The patients at home receive medical advice through the coronavirus hotline. Most of them have mild symptoms," said Nasima.

“A second sample is collected from a patient 14 days after the initial symptoms subside followed by another test 7 days later. A patient is deemed to have recovered completely when two consecutive tests return negative results,” she added.

In the last 24 hours, 104 people were sent into isolation, raising the total to 1,340.

Another 84 people have completed the quarantine process during that period.

There are currently 9,608 isolation beds in hospitals across the country with 3,944 of them in Dhaka.

Globally, over 3.11 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 217,212 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/2020/04/29/bangladesh-reports-8-more-virus-deaths-cases-top-7000-after-record-daily-spike