Dhaka: The death toll from the disease climbed to 298 after 15 new fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Friday, according to government data.

The recovery count also rose to 3,882 after another 279 COVID-19 patients were released from hospitals in the same period, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said in a media briefing on Friday.

A total of 8,582 samples were tested, the most in a single day, at 41 authorised labs across the country, she added.

Globally, over 4.44 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 302,493 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.

Among the latest deaths in Bangladesh, seven were men and two women. In terms of their ages, two were over 80 years old, three between 61 and 70, eight between 51 and 60, one between 31 and 40 and another between 21 and 30 years old.

Dhaka division accounts for 79.54 percent of the total infections in Bangladesh, of which 58.11 percent are concentrated in the metropolitan area, making it the epicentre of the disease.

Outside Dhaka, Chattogram has the highest infection rate with 8.47 percent followed by Mymensingh with 3.50 percent, Rangpur with 2.53 percent, Sylhet with 1.54 percent, Rajshahi with 1.39 percent and Barishal where 1.10 percent of the total cases have been reported.

Another 269 people were sent into isolation in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 2,748.

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/05/15/bangladesh-virus-caseload-tops-20000-after-record-daily-spike-body-count-hits-298