COVID-19
22 deaths in 24 hours: Kushtia records its highest daily Covid toll
Twenty-two more Covid-related deaths were recorded at Kushtia General Hospital in 24 hours till Friday morning, the district's highest single-day fatality figure this year.
Of the deceased, 12 were confirmed Covid patients while the remaining 10 showed symptoms of the virus, said Dr MA Momen, administrator of Kushtia General Hospital.
Read:17 more die of Covid at Kushtia hospital
Besides, the district logged as many as 220 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours. "A total of 792 samples were tested during the period," said Dr Momen.
The positivity rate in the district currently stands at 27.77%, which was 31.22% a day before. Besides, 280 patients with Covid symptoms are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, the official said.
Read:Covid-19 takes away father, son same day in Kushtia
Dr Taposh Kumar Sarkar, resident medical officer of the hospital, said, “The number of Covid-19 patients is increasing by the day, forcing authorities to accommodate people on the floor of the corona ward. If the situation worsens further, it will be very difficult for us to handle the situation with this limited manpower.”
So far, 9,884 people have been found infected in the district, while 296 people have died of Covid-19. Some 6,275 people have recovered as of now.
Covid: 18 more patients die at Rajshahi hospital, fresh cases drop
Eighteen more Covid patients have died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Friday.
However, the district's daily new Covid cases has recorded a marginal decline, with 88 people testing positive for corona in 24 hours that's 8.41% less than a day before.
Read:Rajshahi Medical sees 22 deaths in single day
Hospital Director Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani said that three of the deceased were confirmed Covid patients, while the remaining showed symptoms of the virus.
Of the deceased, 10 were from Rajshahi district, two each from Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Natore, and one each from Kushtia and Sirajganj districts.
Read:Rajshahi hospital sees record 25 Covid deaths in single day
"Meanwhile, 88 people have tested positive for corona at the hospital in the past 24 hours. A total of 479 samples were tested in two laboratories of the district during the period," the director said.
The positivity rate currently stands at 18.16%, which was 26.57% a day before.
Read:13 more die of Covid at Rajshahi hospital
Shamim Yazdani also said that 74 people have been admitted to the corona unit of the hospital in 24 hours. During the period, 52 people were discharged from the hospital after recovery.
Moreover, 501 people are currently undergoing treatment against 454 beds at the corona unit of the hospital. Among them, 20 patients are in the ICU.
Global Covid cases top 185 million
The second wave of the Covid pandemic continues its onslaught across the world amid speeding inoculation efforts. In fact, the global corona caseload has now topped 185 million.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 185,489,255 and 4,009,084, respectively, as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,351,337,474 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
Also read: As global COVID-19 deaths top 4 million, a suicide in Peru
The US has logged 33,790, 114 cases and 606,468 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Brazil registered 1,733 more deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, bringing the national death tally to 530,344, the health ministry said Thursday.
A total of 53,749 new infections were detected during the period, raising the total caseload to 18,962,786, the ministry said.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,743,013 on Thursday as 34,443 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry.
Also read: India’s Bharat Biotech says vaccine 93.4% effective against severe COVID-19
Besides, 470 deaths due to the pandemic since Wednesday morning pushed up the total death toll to 405,527.
Covid-19 was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019, but the outbreak spread quickly across the globe in the first two-three months of 2020.
It was declared a global pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020.
Situation in Bangladesh
As coronavirus is spreading in Bangladesh faster than ever, the country logged record-high 11,651 cases and 199 deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
The grim number of cases came after the test of 36,850 samples during the period, which puts the country’s case positivity rate at 31.62%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The new numbers took the country’s death toll to 15,792, while the caseload stood at 989,219.
Just a day before, the country counted the highest-ever 201 deaths from Covid-19, and record-high 11,525 cases on Tuesday.
Also read: Dhaka reemerging as Covid hotspot as battle plan ‘fails’: Experts
The country’s fatality rate remained static at 1.60% till Wednesday, said the DGHS.
So far, 856, 346 people have recovered from Covid, putting the recovery rate at 86.57%, which is declining unlike other indicators.
Dhaka reemerging as Covid hotspot as battle plan ‘fails’: Experts
Though the Coronavirus spread had come almost under control in Dhaka nearly a month back, the national capital is reemerging as the hotspot for the deadly virus transmission and fatalities.
Health experts said the highly transmissible Delta or Indian variant has speared in Dhaka as the government took time to stop inter-district transport services when it was spreading fast in frontier areas. The high density of population in the capital and people’s apathy toward wearing masks, and maintaining health safety rules are also the major reasons why the virus transmission is spreading so fast in Dhaka.
They said ensuring speedy contact tracing, isolation of the infected people and intensifying the lockdown ensuring people’s involvement are necessary to break the transmission cycle while better hospital management, including setting up field hospitals, can reduce the fatality rate.
Also read:Bangladesh unlikely to reach Covid herd immunity anytime soon: Expert
Frightening situation
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), over 89,000 Covid cases were identified while 1421 patients died of the virus in the past 10 days.
The country reported 11,525 cases on Tuesday and 11,162 ones on Wednesday across the country. Of them, 3,715 or 32.23 percent patients were found in Dhaka city on Tuesday and 3,285 patients or 29.43 percent on Wednesday. But the Covid positivity rate in Dhaka city was just 3.45% in early June.
Pfizer to seek OK for 3rd vaccine dose; shots still protect
Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.
Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world and now accounts for most new U.S. infections.
Two doses of most vaccines are critical to develop high levels of virus-fighting antibodies against all versions of the coronavirus, not just the delta variant -- and most of the world still is desperate to get those initial protective doses as the pandemic continues to rage.
Also read: AstraZeneca, Pfizer vaccines effective against Delta Covid-19 variants: Study
But antibodies naturally wane over time, so studies also are underway to tell if and when boosters might be needed.
On Thursday, Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier.
In August, Pfizer plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of a third dose, he sai.
Why might that matter for fighting the delta variant? Dolsten pointed to data from Britain and Israel showing the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the delta variant very well.” The assumption, he said, is that when antibodies drop low enough, the delta virus eventually could cause a mild infection before the immune system kicks back in.
But FDA authorization would be just a first step -- it wouldn’t automatically mean Americans get offered boosters, cautioned Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Public health authorities would have to decide if they’re really needed, especially since millions of people have no protection.
Also read: Bangladesh rolls out Pfizer vaccine at 3 Dhaka centers
“The vaccines were designed to keep us out of the hospital” and continue to do so despite the more contagious delta variant, he said. Giving another dose would be “a huge effort while we are at the moment striving to get people the first dose.”
Hours after Pfizer’s announcement, U.S. health officials issued a statement saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need a booster yet.
U.S. health agencies “are engaged in a science-based, rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary,” the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint statement. That work will include data from the drug companies, “but does not rely on those data exclusively,” and any decision on booster shots would happen only when “the science demonstrates that they are needed,” the agencies said.
Currently only about 48% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated — and some parts of the country have far lower immunization rates, places where the delta variant is surging. On Thursday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said that’s leading to “two truths” — highly immunized swaths of America are getting back to normal while hospitalizations are rising in other places.
“This rapid rise is troubling,” she said: A few weeks ago the delta variant accounted for just over a quarter of new U.S. cases, but it now accounts for just over 50% — and in some places, such as parts of the Midwest, as much as 80%.
Also read: European regulators OK Pfizer vaccine for children 12-15
Also Thursday, researchers from France’s Pasteur Institute reported new evidence that full vaccination is critical.
In laboratory tests, blood from several dozen people given their first dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines “barely inhibited” the delta variant, the team reported in the journal Nature. But weeks after getting their second dose, nearly all had what researchers deemed an immune boost strong enough to neutralize the delta variant — even if it was a little less potent than against earlier versions of the virus.
The French researchers also tested unvaccinated people who had survived a bout of the coronavirus, and found their antibodies were four-fold less potent against the new mutant. But a single vaccine dose dramatically boosted their antibody levels — sparking cross-protection against the delta variant and two other mutants, the study found. That supports public health recommendations that COVID-19 survivors get vaccinated rather than relying on natural immunity.
The lab experiments add to real-world data that the delta variant’s mutations aren’t evading the vaccines most widely used in Western countries, but underscore that it’s crucial to get more of the world immunized before the virus evolves even more.
Researchers in Britain found two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, for example, are 96% protective against hospitalization with the delta variant and 88% effective against symptomatic infection. That finding was echoed last weekend by Canadian researchers, while a report from Israel suggested protection against mild delta infection may have dipped lower, to 64%.
Whether the fully vaccinated still need to wear masks in places where the delta variant is surging is a growing question. In the U.S., the CDC maintains that fully vaccinated people don’t need to. Even before the delta variant came along, the vaccines weren’t perfect, but the best evidence suggests that if vaccinated people nonetheless get the coronavirus, they’ll have much milder cases.
“Let me emphasize, if you were vaccinated, you have a very high degree of protection,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday.
In the U.S., case rates have been rising for weeks and the rate of hospitalizations has started to tick up, rising 7% from the previous seven-day average, Walensky told reporters Thursday. However, deaths remain down on average, which some experts believe is at least partly due to high vaccination rates in people 65 and older — who are among the most susceptible to severe disease.
Covid vaccine registration now available on MyGP
Grameenphone has incorporated the national Covid-19 vaccination management portal "Surokkha" into its one-stop digital solution MyGP.
So, MyGP users can now enjoy the opportunity to access the government's authorised portal for Covid-19 vaccine registration.
Also read: Covid-19 vaccine registration now possible through imo
They will find a freshly added card to access the Surokkha portal in the "What's New" section of the app. Upon clicking the card, users will be taken to the webpage directly from where they can register for a vaccine.
Also, the portal allows one to check for the registration status updates, collect cards and certificates after vaccination; and answers the FAQs regarding the total campaign.
Also read: Registration for Covid vaccination to restart Thursday
Solaiman Alam, chief digital and strategy officer at Grameenphone said: "Bringing more people under the vaccination process is indeed going to be extensive. Grameenphone has decided to play its role in the mammoth task by incorporating the Surokkha portal into its official app MyGP which has a huge reach. This will facilitate registration for vaccination in hopes of a pandemic free world tomorrow."
Vulnerable economies call on rich nations to avert global climate-Covid economic threat
Vulnerable economies on Thursday called upon the rich nations to avert global climate-Covid economic threat.
The 48 most vulnerable economies demand “2020-2024 delivery plan” for the missing $100 billion annual Paris Agreement climate assistance.
Led by Bangladesh as chair of the V20, the world’s most climate vulnerable economies met virtually as heads of state and government, ministers of finance and economy, together with leaders of the United Nations, partner economies and the global financial system to address the compound, destabilizing effect of climate disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic on low- and middle-income economies.
The ‘Vulnerable Twenty’ (V20) Group of Finance Ministers released a Communique that called for leadership by industrialized nations and cooperation to urgently transform and align the global economic system with the goals of the Paris Climate treaty for a more robust, greener, and equitable recovery.
The first ‘Climate Vulnerables Finance Summit’ was opened by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She said every country must pursue an ambitious target to curb Greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperatures from rising to 1.5ºC.
"This target has been approved through a global consensus, but we have not observed any visible action”, said the Prime Minister adding that “I urge all, particularly the G20 nations to show their actions.”
She indicated that the tragedies faced by the most vulnerable will haunt the world economy if urgent action is not taken and the economic and financial support needs of the V20 are not met, stating that “Developed nations need to articulate a concrete delivery plan on how the shortfall of annual climate finance will be met between 2020 and 2024.
They should facilitate the green recovery of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF)-V20 by providing monetary assistance, transferring technology, and building capacity.
Authorities disperse an illegal cattle market in Panchagarh
Authorities evicted a crowded cattle market that was set up in Rajnagar upazila of Panchagarh district Thursday defying a ban imposed to curb the spread of Covid infections.
Two people, known to be assistant of a lease holder, were fined Tk. one lakh for their involvement in organising the haat, which saw a huge turnout of cattle and traders in violation of Covid-19 health guidelines.
The Panchagarh District Administrative has recently ordered all cattle markets closed in five upazilas to curb the spread of the virus.
The two men admitted that they had set up the cattle market after getting verbal approval from the UP chairman and the Municipal mayor.
Covid refuses to slow down in Bangladesh; 199 more die
As the Coronavirus is spreading in Bangladesh faster than ever, the country logged record-high 11,651 cases and 199 deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
This grim number of cases came after the test of 36,850 samples during the period, which puts the country’s case positivity rate at peak 31.62%, according to a handout provided by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The new numbers took the country’s death toll to 15,792 while the caseload stood at 989, 219.
Just a day before, the country counted the highest-ever 201 deaths from Covid-19 and record-high 11,525 cases on Tuesday.
During the period, the country’s fatality rate remained static at 1.60% as of Wednesday's, said the DGHS.
So far, 856, 346 people have recovered from the disease putting the recovery rate at 86.57%, which is declining unlike other indicators.
Of the deceased, 107 were above the age of 60, 47 between 51 and 60, 28 between 41 and 50, six between 31 and 40, nine between 21 and 30, and two between 11 and 20.
Also read: Covid nightmare in Bangladesh: Daily-death toll crosses 200
Sixty-five of the 199 deaths were reported today in Dhaka division while Khulna division saw 55 deaths and Chattogram 37. Besides, 15 people died in Rajshahi division, 10 in Mymensingh, nine in Rangpur, five in Sylhet and three in Rangpur divisions.
South Asia agriculture and food systems show resilience amid pandemic, says a global report
The severe health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted food systems and upended livelihoods in South Asia, but it has also led to policies aimed at building resilient food systems, according to the 2021 Global Food Policy Report.
“The pandemic responses have demonstrated the power of well-crafted policies to blunt the impact of major shocks while laying the groundwork for stronger, more resilient food systems,” said the report released on Thursday.
The highlights of the report were presented at a virtual event, co-organized by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) South Asia, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) n Thursday.
Also read: Sources: Agriculture to get increased subsidy in the upcoming national budget
Policy makers and thought leaders shared their perspectives on COVID-19’s impacts on food systems and discussed the lessons the report draws from the current crisis, an IFPRI press release said.
“We have known for a while now that there are major problems with our food systems, that they are unequal and unsustainable,” said Johan Swinnen, director general of IFPRI. “This crisis has revealed these problems in a way that none of us can ignore, but it has also demonstrated that we have effective ways to address these problems”.
On the Covid-induced lockdown, the report said ,“Although the lockdowns helped in containing the infection rates, they created bigger shocks to national economies than the pandemic itself.”
Also read: Country has no shortage of food, says Food Minister
It added that “To mitigate the impacts on the economy governments enacted a wide range of policies aimed at saving lives, protecting livelihoods and stimulating economies.”
The report highlighted that the countries in the South Asian region did much better than the expert predictions in terms of economic performance, food price stabilization, and protecting livelihoods.
“However, the report also cautioned that there’s no room for complacency, which unfortunately turned out to be true during the second wave that overwhelmed health systems and significantly disrupted livelihoods”, said Shahidur Rashid, Director- IFPRI, South Asia.
Rashid cautioned that the region is still reeling under the devastating impact of the second wave, “While vaccinations have been ramped up and the caseloads have slowly declined, there are uncertainties as to how things will play out in the region for agriculture and food systems”.
The report underscores that the pandemic has revealed both resilience and vulnerabilities in South Asian food systems. Across the region, the agriculture sector grew, food prices remained relatively stable, and no food security crisis was reported during the first wave.
Also read: Govt to reach food to one crore families before Eid: Quader
This resilience can largely be attributed to the region’s decades of investments in infrastructure and institutions for social transfers and safety nets programs, as well as the expansion of many of these programs. Surveys conducted by IFPRI found that public transfer systems for food, security, health, and nutrition have largely performed well in the region.
Giving examples the report said Bangladesh government increased the social protection budget from 2.9 per cent of national GDP in 2019-20 to 3.01 per cent in response to the pandemic.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.