Dhaka, Jun 29 (IANS): Bangladesh Defence Secretary Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury on Monday died at a hospital here due to the novel coronavirus, the government has confirmed.

Chowdhury died during treatment in Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital (CMH) at 9.30 a.m. Monday, bdnews24 quoted Selina Haque, Additional Secretary to the Defence Ministry, as saying.

He was admitted at CMH on May 29 after testing positive for COVID-19 and was put into the intensive care unit on June 6 when his condition deteriorated, Bhasani Mirza, administrative officer of the secretary, told The Daily Star newspaper.

He was on placed on ventilation support on June 18 as his condition deteriorated, he added.

Chowdhury became Defence Secretary in January and on June 14, the government promoted him to the senior secretary post of the Ministry of Defence.

As of Monday morning, Bangladesh reported a total of 137,787 COVID-19 cases, one of the worst hit in South Asia, with 1,738 deaths.