Bangladesh coronavirus death toll passes 500

The death toll from coronavirus in Bangladesh has reached 501 as 21 more people died in the last 24 hours.

Besides, 1,975 more tested positive for coronavirus, raising the number of such cases to 35,585.

Professor Dr Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General of Health Directorate, said this in the regular health bulletin through online on Monday.

In the last 24 hours, 9,451 samples were examined and out of them 1,975 got positive results for the virus. Apart from, 433 more have made recovery from the disease, raising the total number to 7,334, she said.  

Bangladesh reported its first three cases of COVID-19 on March 8. 

The new coronavirus pandemic first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year.

The World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic on March 11.

The deadly virus spread to 213 countries and territories, killing some 346,898 people globally, according to Worldometer, a website which compiles number of new coronavirus cases and deaths from it.

As many as 5,515,988 people worldwide caught the virus. Among them, 2,309,878 people recovered from the virus, the website said.