COVID-19: Cases Near 18,000; Death Toll Now 269

COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Bangladesh as 1,162 more people tested positive for the disease in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 17,822 as of Wednesday.

This is the highest number of diagnosed cases so far in the country.

The death toll from the deadly disease also spiked to 269 as 19 more death were reported in the meantime.

"With the new figures, the death toll rose to 269, while the number of new cases to 17,822," said Prof. Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), in her regular online health bulletin in the afternoon.

In the last 24 hours, 41 coronavirus testing laboratories across the country tested 7,900 samples, she added.

Bangladesh reported the first confirmed coronavirus case on 8 March and the first virus death on 18 March.