As many as 45 more people have died from the coronavirus in the country while 5,181 others tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours. 

With the latest, the death toll from the pandemic has risen to 8,949 while the tally of infections has surged to 6,00,895 said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in a press release on Monday (March 29, 2021).

The recovery count rose to 538,018 after another 2,077 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, said the release. 

A total of 28,195 samples were tested at 219 authorized laboratories across the country during the time, it added. “Of the total sample tested in the past 24 hours, 17.65 percent was positive.” The first coronavirus death was reported in the country on March 18, ten days after the detection of the first COVID-19 cases.