DHAKA, – Bangladesh today recorded 34 more deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 3,504 fresh cases overnight.

The recovery count rose to 54,318 after another 1,185 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, a top health official said.

“Thirty-four more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 1,695,” Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing at DGHS in the city.

She said the tally of infections has surged to 1, 33,978 as 3,504 new cases were confirmed in the 24 hours.

The health official also informed that a total of 15,157 samples were tested at 58 the authorised laboratories across the country during the time.

Among the total infections, 40.54 percent patients have recovered while 1.27 percent died so far since the first COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the country on March 8, she said.

Bangladesh confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, ten days after the detection of the first COVID-19 cases.

Explaining implementation process of zoning system to prevent the disease, Nasima said Bangladesh has been divided into three categories — red, yellow and green — by considering infection rate of COVID-19.

Under the zoning system, a 13-member advisory committee is working to determine zoning maps, she said, adding: “This is continuous process… No areas will remain under specific zoning maps permanently.”

The health official urged the people to abide by health rules to protect themselves from the infection of the deadly virus.

“We’ve to be aware more about codes … Health protection measures are the best remedies to prevent the pandemic,” she added.

Nasima laid emphasis on maintaining three heath directives — wearing mask, physical distancing and washing hands by soap — to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Referring to latest health directives of the World Health Organization (WHO), the health official said the people must wear masks to protect themselves from infections of coronavirus and mentioned that scientifically cloth-made mask is equally effective to prevent the virus.

“We can reuse cloth-made masks after washing by detergents or soaps,” Nasima said.

She said nearly 75 percent COVID-19 patients are taking treatment from their homes, and many of them are being cured every day after receiving treatment through hotlines.

The health official dubbed Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chattogram as COVID-19 “hotspots” because the maximum numbers of cases were detected in the three cities.

As of June 24, Dhaka city has been considered as the worst-affected with 27,267 COVID cases, according to Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

As of June 25, among the COVID-19-prone districts, Chattogram district including city areas and Narayanganj including city areas are the most hardest- hit ones with 66,99 and 4,788 cases respectively, according to the IEDCR data.

It was followed by Gazipur district including city areas with 3038 cases, Cumilla district with 2873, Dhaka district, excluding city areas, with 2856 cases, Cox’s Bazar district with 2,204 cases, Sylhet district including city areas with 1944 cases, Munshiganj district with 1856 cases, Noakhali district with 1828 cases, Faridpur district with 1479 cases, Mymensingh district including city areas with 1399 cases, Barishal including city areas with 1275, Narsingdi district with 1256 cases, Khulna with 1206 and Kishoreganj district with 1083 cases.

She said a total of 7, 12,098 samples have so far been tested since the detection of the first COVID-19 cases in the country.

A total of 3, 36,702 people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine and 2, 77,157 people were released from quarantine, while the number of people who are now in quarantine is 63,913.

It said a total of 629 institutions have been prepared across the country for keeping over 31,991 people in quarantine, adding nearly 14,267 people have now been kept in isolation.

The government has collected 25, 28,285 PPE so far, of which over 23,75,064 were distributed and 1,53,181 are in stock, the DGHS said.

It said 1,36,44,534 people received healthcare services from hotline mobile numbers and health web portals as the government formed a group of medical professionals to provide emergency health services.

To receive information and treatment facilities on COVID-19, the contact hotline and mobile numbers are 16263; 333; 10655 and 01944333222.

As of June 27, 2020, 10.27 GMT, 497,492 have died so far from the COVID-19 outbreak and there are currently 9,930,635 confirmed cases in 212 countries and territories, according to Worldometer, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.

China was the world’s first country which on January 11 reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province.