During the period, 15 more people died from the deadly disease, taking the death tally to 298.

Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana came up with the disclosure at its daily online briefing.

In the last 24 hours, 41 coronavirus testing laboratories across the country tested 8,582 samples, she added. During this period, 9,539 samples were collected.

Also Read:Coronavirus: Global death toll exceeds 300,000

Dhaka’s infection rate declines

Dr Nasima noted that the overall infection percentage in Dhaka division has declined slightly.

“Currently, Dhaka and its surrounding districts have 79.54 percent of the coronavirus patients. Of those infected, 58 percent are in Dhaka city alone,” she said.

Narayanganj comes in second in terms of number of confirmed cases.

She also noted that infection is spreading faster in Chattogram division.

“Of the confirmed cases, 8.74 percent are in Chattogram division, 3.5 percent in Mymensingh, 2.53 percent in Rangpur division, 1.54 percent in Sylhet division, 1.39 percent in Rajshahi division and 1.1 percent in Barishal division,” she added.

Read Also:Bangladesh’s coronavirus cases jump to 18,863‬; death toll 283

278 patients recover

Among the 15 patients whose deaths were reported on Friday, seven are male and eight female.

“Two of them were aged between 81 and 90 years, three between 61 and 70, eight between 51 and 60, one between 31 and 40 and another between 21 and 30,” the DGHS official said.

Meanwhile, 278 more patients recovered from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,882.

Another 259 people have been taken in isolation during this period. Currently, 2,748 people are in isolation. During this time, 2,798 people have been home and institutionally quarantined.

Hospitals in Bangladesh currently have 8,934 isolation beds alongside 329 ICU beds and 102 dialysis units.

Bangladesh confirmed its first coronavirus cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18.

To cope with the worsening coronavirus situation, the government on Thursday extended general holidays further until May 30.

In line with the extended general holidays, the Roads and Highways Division (RHD) said the public transport services will also remain suspended until May 30.

Global situation

The global death toll from coronavirus reached 203,555 as of Friday.

According to worldometer, 4,539,401 cases have so far been confirmed since the virus was first reported in China in December last year.

So far, 1,711,250 people have recovered.

Of those infected, 2,524,596 are currently being treated and 45,559 of them are in serious or critical condition.

The World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic on March 11.

Read Also:General holidays extended till May 30