2m tests conducted, 18.49pc positive

RT-PCR labs across the country conducted 20,01,431 coronavirus tests until yesterday morning and 3,70,132 of them (18.49 percent) produced positive results.

In 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, the health authorities recorded 1,442 confirmed cases and 27 deaths, pushing the death toll to 5,375. Twenty-two of the deceased were aged above 50.

Of the total dead, 4,155 are men and 1,220 women. The mortality rate is 1.45 percent, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services.

Meanwhile, 1,526 patients have recovered during the same 24-hour period, taking the number of recoveries to 2,81,182. The recovery rate rose to 76.5 percent.

Currently, Bangladesh has 83,575 active cases. A total of 14,189 people are now in isolation and 41,957 in quarantine.

The government has recently approved antigen tests. However, RT-PCR method is more reliable and considered the gold standard of novel coronavirus testing.

In Bangladesh, the first Covid-19 cases were reported on March 8 and the first death was recorded on March 18.

The number of cases reached the 3,00,000-mark on August 26 and the death toll crossed 5,000-mark on September 22.