Dhaka: The COVID-19 outbreak in the country turned grimmer as health authorities reported a new record of coronavirus infection and a spike in fatalities.

As many as 887 people tested positive over the past 24 hours, taking the count of new cases to 14,657, the highest single-day surge so far. Fourteen people died with coronavirus infections over the same time, bringing the death toll to 228.

The surge in positive cases coincided with the reopening of markets and clothing stores in the country. Amid a growing impact on the economy, the government has relaxed the ongoing shutdown and permitted authorities to open their markets to the public.

Some clothing stores opened yesterday, though many markets of the country decided not to open, fearing the crowd of people at the shopping complexes might worsen the situation.

Bangladesh is one of the first 30 countries, including India and Pakistan, which has experienced a rise of COVID-19 cases after sixty days from the first detected case.

On March 8, the health authorities reported the first three cases of COVID-19. The country recorded its first fatality on March 18.

The health ministry's expert committee in a report said the outbreak might peak in the third or fourth week of this month and the situation would remain unchanged for almost two weeks, or until the first week of June.

The number of new cases is likely to come down to a "tolerable level" by the end of June unless the restrictions are relaxed too early, according to the report.

During yesterday's briefing on the country's COVID-19 situation, Prof Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of DGHS said 5,738 samples were tested across the country in 36 labs from Saturday.

"It is the highest number of infections in a single day," she said.

About the 14 deaths, she said 10 were male and four females.

Of the male, four were aged between 41-50 years while two between 51-60, three between 61-70, and one 91-100, the DGHS official said.

Two of the female victims were between 60 and 70 years old, while one was 51-60 and the other around 30-40.

Prof Nasima said so far 236 patients have recovered around the country over the last 24 hours. The total recovery number stands at 2,650 now.

The recovery rate of all COVID-19 patients is around 18.1 percent.

In the past 24 hours, a total of 169 people have been put in isolation while 71 have been released.

Besides, 36,422 people currently remain in-home or institutional quarantine, the DGHS official added.

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