coronavirus
Coronavirus outbreak: Youths come to marginal farmers’ rescue
The government-declared shutdown to contain transmission of coronavirus disrupted the supply chain and brought economic activities to a grinding halt, hitting the low-income group and small-scale farmers the hardest.
Coronavirus: State Minister gives police sanitisers, gloves
State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder on Monday gave sanitiser and gloves to Mirpur zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
First coronavirus patient detected in Sirajganj
Sirajganj reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Monday.
A 65-year-old man from Goprekhi village of Belkuchi upazila tested positive.
The local administration has put five villages under lockdown, said acting Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Rahmatullah on Monday.
The villages are- Goprekhi, Madhobpur, Bhangabari, Gopolpur and Charkadoho.
The UNO said that the man returned from Narayanganj 10 days ago. Later, he took shelter at his relative’s house as villagers asked him to leave village. As he fell sick at his relative house, he was first taken to Enayetpur Khaza Yunus Ali Medical College Hospital.
However, he fled from isolation ward.
On information, a medical team went to his house and collected sample.
His sample was confirmed positive on Sunday night at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
AIIB approves $170 million to improve Bangladesh’s sanitation infrastructure
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $170 million to improve Bangladesh’s sanitation infrastructure, according to a press release.
COVID-19: Displaced, stateless women, girls at high risk of gender-based violence
Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, Gillian Triggs on Monday warned that COVID-19 is inducing massive protection risks for women and girls forced to flee their homes.
“We need to pay urgent attention to the protection of refugee, displaced and stateless women and girls at the time of this pandemic. They are among those most at-risk. Doors should not be left open for abusers and no help spared for women surviving abuse and violence,” said Triggs.
Confinement policies, lockdowns and quarantines adopted across the world as a response to the pandemic have led to restricted movement, reduced community interaction, the closure of services and worsening socio-economic conditions.
These factors are significantly exacerbating the risks of intimate partner violence, according to a media note received from Geneva.
Some may end up confined to their shelters and homes, trapped with their abusers without the opportunity to distance themselves or to seek in-person support, said Triggs.
“Others, including those without documentation or those who have lost precarious livelihoods, as a result of the economic devastation that COVID-19 has inflicted, may be forced into survival sex or child marriages by their families. Within the household, many women are also taking on increased burdens as caregivers.”
For survivors of violence and those at-risk, the consequences of COVID-19 also mean limited access to life-saving support, such as psycho-social, health and security services.
Imposed mobility restrictions and containment measures make it difficult for women to access help while some services, including safe shelters, have been temporarily suspended, re-purposed or closed.
“Globally, our network of UNHCR protection staff are on high alert. Our life-saving programs for women and girls subjected to violence are being adapted where possible. In some locations they are now being managed remotely by social workers with the support of trained community volunteer networks,” said Triggs.
Displaced women themselves remain involved at the forefront of the response, informing their communities about the risks of violence and providing information on prevention and protective health measures.
They are also supporting survivors to access available, specialised support.
Triggs said UNHCR is also distributing emergency cash assistance to support survivors and women-at-risk.
Action is also being coordinated across the humanitarian sector to ensure the risks of sexual and gender-based violence are mitigated throughout all sectoral interventions, including but not limited to the emergency health response.
“To preserve lives and secure rights, Governments, together with humanitarian actors, must ensure that rising risks of violence for displaced and stateless women are taken into account in the design of national COVID-19 prevention, response and recovery plans,” said Triggs.
This means ensuring critical services for survivors of gender-based violence are designated as essential and are accessible to those forcibly displaced. These include health and security services for survivors, psycho-social support services and safe shelters.
Access to justice for survivors must also not be diminished.
Given the deteriorating socio-economic conditions now facing many refugee host countries, support from donors will be critically needed to preserve the operations of essential gender-based violence prevention and response services, including those provided by local, women-led organizations.
“All women and girls have the right to a life free from all forms of violence. We must stand with displaced and stateless women and girls as we reiterate the Secretary General’s message and urge all governments to put all women and girls’ safety first as they respond to the pandemic," said Triggs.
Faridpur Medical College starts coronavirus test
Faridpur Medical College Hospital (FMC) on Monday morning started testing coronavirus.
It is capable of testing 94 samples a day.
For testing samples, a PCR machine has been set up on the third floor of the college, said Doctor Saifur Rahman, director of the hospital.
The testing station was formally inaugurated around 9:30am.
One thousand kits have been sent to the medical college from Dhaka.
Testing will be carried out from 10am to 6pm every day.
Besides, a committee has been formed for running the lab.
Coronavirus patient forced to leave home in Laxmipur
A man diagnosed with coronavirus was forced to leave his rented flat after being threatened by his house owner in Ramganj upazila.
The 35-year-old, a factory worker in Cox’s Bazar, returned home in Laxmipur on April 12 and tested positive for coronavirus four days later.
“After my results came, the local administration put the house under lockdown,” he said. “The house owner threatened to burn me alive and forced me to leave.”
The man started for Cumilla but Superintendent of Police Syed Nurul Islam caught up with him at Nangalkot Railway Station. The patient was later sent to the isolation centre in Nangalkot upazila.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Lamiya Saiful said the patient was sent to Goharua 20-bed Hospital.
Meanwhile, seven more people died from coronavirus in Bangladesh until Sunday, taking the death toll in the country to 91.
Besides, a record number of 312 people tested positive for coronavirus during the period, raising the number of such cases in the country to 2,456.
N Korea’s zero-virus claim questioned
During the SARS outbreak and flu pandemic, Choi Jung Hun, then a doctor in North Korea, didn't have more than a thermometer to decide who should be quarantined.
WFP distributes food in Cox’s Bazar
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started handing out food to the most vulnerable families in Cox’s Bazar affected by shutdowns due to coronavirus.
Alongside making changes in the food distribution process in the Rohingya camps, WFP is working with local government authorities to provide support to the host communities as needed, the agency said Monday.
As well as providing food to vulnerable households, WFP is also supplying food to patients in the government and humanitarian-managed quarantine and isolation facilities in the district, it said.
This includes dry food rations for up to 1,500 patients to the isolation facilities and hot meals (locally known as Khichuri) to up to 3,000 people in the government quarantine centre.
These distributions are complementing ongoing food assistance provided by the government of Bangladesh.
“It’s great that WFP stands together in solidarity with the people of Cox's Bazar during this critical time of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak,” said Md Kamal Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of the district.
He said the district administration highlights the importance of coordination to overcome this crisis. "If the lockdown continues, as is happening throughout the world, the suffering will multiply soon. Therefore, the district administration is grateful to WFP for supporting the host community of Cox's Bazar.”
Richard Ragan, WFP Representative to Bangladesh, said they always believe that a collective effort is the key to dealing with a crisis like coronavirus.
“Hence, to support people in the host community and in the Rohingya camps we have taken these initiatives alongside the government of Bangladesh to mitigate the risks and impacts of this virus,” he said.
The distributions began this week and will continue on a monthly basis.
Australia to make Google, Facebook pay
As coronavirus crisis leads to a collapse in advertising revenue, Australia on Monday said it will force Google and Facebook pay for news content.