Bangladesh’s officially confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 2,26,225 on Monday after the health authorities announced detection of 2,772  new patients.

“In the last 24 hours, 37 patients have died, pushing up the death tally to 2,965,” Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana told a regular online briefing, reports UNB.

Meanwhile, 1801 coronavirus patients recovered during the past 24 hours and with them, 1,25,683 have recovered from Covid-19 so far.

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 and the first fatality on March 18. The government declared the whole country vulnerable to infection and announced ‘general holidays’ to curb the transmission of the virus.

But the number of cases continued to rise over the weeks. The situation has hardly improved even as the number of tests has come down. An increasing number of cases is putting a severe strain on Bangladesh’s healthcare system.

There is no vaccine available for the virus and the health authorities say maintaining health guidelines, hygiene and recommended physical distance from others can help protect people from coronavirus.

Covid-19 cases were first reported in China in December last year. In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic.