DHAKA, Bangladesh 

Bangladesh reported eight new deaths from the coronavirus – including that of a police constable and a journalist – and 641 new cases over the past 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.

Jasim Uddin, a 40-year-old police constable, fell sick with coronavirus symptoms on April 25 and was kept in isolation, according to a police statement.

He was taken to Dhaka Medical Hospital College Hospital on Tuesday after his condition worsen and died there at night, the statement said, adding the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed the constable tested positive for the virus.

Bangladesh police are working on the frontline since the COVID-19 case was first confirmed in the country on March 8. Some 420 police personnel across the country have so far tested positive for the virus.

Among the total, 240 are from Dhaka while some 1,026 are currently under quarantine, according to official figures provided by the media cell of police.

Meanwhile, Homayuan Kabir Khokon, the chief reporter of a local newspaper Shomoyer Alo, died on Tuesday night with COVID-19 symptoms in a hospital in Dhaka.

“The journalist was admitted to our hospital on Tuesday 7 pm and died around 9:45 pm local time. His physical condition was COVID-19 suspected,” said Tarik Shibly, an official at the hospital, told Anadolu Agency.

“We sent samples of the deceased to the disease control authority, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, yesterday night for confirmation of COVID-19,” he added.

An official at the IEDCR, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, told the Anadolu Agency the journalist was tested positive for COVID-19, and the test result was sent to the hospital.

The hospital management, however, said that they were yet to receive any confirmation from IEDCR.

Some 33 journalists have so far been tested positive to the virus as of Wednesday in the country.

Bangladesh recorded 163 death cases and the total number of infected was reached 7,103 while some 150 recovered. And, of the total deceased, 137 were from Dhaka division, according to the health ministry data.