Bangladesh's virus cases top 1.4 million: another 197 die

Don: Bangladesh has registered 197 new deaths from the COVID-19 illness in a day, taking the toll to 23,810. The caseload climbed to 1,405,333 after 8,465 people tested positive for the disease in the 24 hours to 8 am Friday, according to the latest government data. Dhaka registered the most daily deaths and new cases among the eight divisions in the past 24 hours, logging 78 fatalities and 3,946 infections. Chattogram counted 53 deaths and 1,829 cases followed by Khulna with 18 deaths and 612 cases in the same period. Nationwide, another 11,457 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,273,522. As many as 40,641 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 20.83 percent. The latest figures put the recovery rate at 90.62 percent and the mortality rate at 1.69 percent. Globally, over 205.50 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 4.33 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.