Coronavirus death toll in Bangladesh crosses 500

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The death toll in Bangladesh from the novel coronavirus rose to 501, a government official said on Monday, as 21 more people lost their lives over the past 24 hours.

In a media briefing, Nasima Sultana, director general health, said Bangladesh registered 1,975 COVID-19 new cases over the past 24 hours, the highest single-day cases since the outbreak in the country, pushing the tally to 35,585.

Some 433 people also made recovery over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 7,334, Sultana said.

The death rate in the country was 1.41% and recovery rate is 20.61%, she added.

Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus forced people to observe the Muslim religious festival of Eid-al-Fitr in a simple manner.

Several hundred Muslim worshippers attended the Eid prayer at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka while following the Religious Ministry’s guidelines.

Earlier, the Islamic Foundation under the Religious Ministry issued a notification saying that Eid congregation will only be held in mosques and not on open spaces and called for maintaining social distancing and proper health guidelines.

On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her address to the nation urged people to celebrate the Eid at their homes in the wake of the coronavirus.