Dhaka, Sept. 16 -- The COVID-19 caseload surged to 1,538,203 new cases after 1,862 people tested positive for the disease until 8 am on Thursday, according to the latest government data.

Dhaka logged 29 deaths and 1,135 new cases of the disease, the highest among the eight divisions.

Nationwide, another 3,549 people recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,494,090.

As many as 31,149 samples were tested across the country, for a positivity rate of 5.98 percent. The latest figures put the recovery rate at 97.13 percent and the mortality rate at 1.76 percent.

Globally, over 226.44 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 4.66 million have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins Un...