Bangladesh has recorded 1,018 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily count in two months, taking the tally of infections to 553,105.
The death toll climbed to 8,496 after seven fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Wednesday, according to data released by the government, reports bdnews24.com.
The number of fresh recoveries outpaced active cases in the same period as another 1,264 patients recovered from the disease at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 506,613.
As many as 17,032 samples were tested across the country in the last 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 5.98 per cent.
The latest official figures put the recovery rate at 91.59 per cent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.54 per cent.
Globally, over 117.58 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 2.61 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.