The death toll from coronavirus continues to rise in Bangladesh as 10 more people died from the virus infection in the last 24 hours till Monday, taking the total casualties in the country to 101.

Besides, a record number of 492 people tested positive for coronavirus during the period, raising the number of such cases in the country to 2,948.

Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana revealed the information in the daily health bulletin.

"We’re in a great crisis…the number of infected people today is higher than usual...we tested 2,779 samples across the country in the last 24 hours and 492 more were diagnosed with coronavirus infection and the total number of infections is now 2,948. We’ve also lost 10 more lives,” she said.

Prof Nasima mentioned that eight of the deceased were men while two women. "Five of them are from Dhaka and three of the total deceased are aged above 60."

Ten more patients have made recovery from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the number of people who have already recovered to 85, she said.  

"We’re witnessing that the infection rate has gone up in Gazipur as well as Kishoreganj. Around 19.5 percent of the newly-infected people are from Gazipur while 13 percent from Kishoreganj," the DGHS additional director general said.

She said statistics show Gazipur as a new hotspot of the infection.

In the past 24 hours, 107 patients were identified in the district. "We’re witnessing that the infection rate in Gazipur has gone up. It’s become the new hotspot. About 19.5 percent of the newly-infected people are from Gazipur while 13 percent from Kishoreganj and 6 percent from Narsingdi. Dhaka and Narayanganj still hold the top two positions in terms of total infections," Dr Nasima added.

She emphasised that everyone must follow the health guidelines and stay indoors to prevent the coronavirus transmission. “If we don’t follow the health guidelines, we won’t be able to halt the rise in the number of identified patients as well as deaths,” she said.

In the past 24 hours, 57 more people were taken to isolation and 30,809 sent on home-quarantine, Prof Nasima said.

Director of Central Medical Stores Depot Brigadier General Md Shahidullah urged the media not to publish fake news about the distributions of face masks and PPE. “Please contact us if you have any query,” he said.