968 dengue cases, five deaths in a day reported

Bangladesh has recorded 968 dengue cases in the latest daily count, taking the tally this year to 311,014 amid the worst outbreak of the disease, reports bdnews24.com.

The death toll from the mosquito-borne virus increased by five to 1,615 in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning, the Directorate General of Health Services said.

Dhaka saw three of the new deaths and 193 new patients. The number of new patients outside the capital was 775.

On Wednesday morning, 3,587 dengue patients were under hospital care across the country, and 2,613 of them were outside Dhaka. The hospitals in the capital were treating 974 patients.

Experts have blamed a prolonged monsoon and rising temperature, along with a lack of effective measures to kill the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the known carrier of the virus, for the outbreak.