COVID-19 situation
Boi Mela to be open for 3.5 hours a day due to COVID-19
The daily operational hours for the ongoing traditional Amar Ekushey Book Fair has been changed due to the recent surge in COVID-19 infection rate across the country and the capital.
The new schedule says that the fair will remain open to the book-lovers from 3 pm to 6:30 pm, three and a half hours a day.
Also read: Bangladesh reports record number of 5,358 new daily Covid cases; 52 deaths
Bangla Academy, organiser of the month-long traditional fiesta, announced this on Wednesday.
The notice was announced via a press release signed by Aparesh Kumar Banerjee, director of the public relations department of Bangla Academy, saying, “In consideration to the recent spike in the Coronavirus infection rate, the schedule of Amar Ekushey Book Fair has been changed from 31 March, 2021. The fair will start at 3pm every day and close by 6.30pm, effective from Wednesday.”
Also read: Book fair gradually gains momentum
Originally, the traditional Amar Ekushey Book Fair followed the time schedule of 3 pm to 9 pm in the month of February, and 11am to 9 am on holiday and weekends.
Covid-19: Dhaka, Chattogram among 29 districts with higher transmission
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has identified 29 districts, including Dhaka and Chattogram, with higher rates of Coronavirus transmission.
The areas have been dubbed ‘risky places’ considering the high number of Covid-19 cases.
Narayanganj, Gazipur, Nilphamari, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Sylhet and Khulna are also on the list of risky districts, according to DGHS.
Also read: Proposed partial lockdown in areas with high Covid-19 cases: Health Minister
Prof ABM Khurshid Alam, director-general of the health directorate, disclosed the findings after announcing an 18-point directive on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a virtual press conference in the afternoon.
"Considering the level of transmission, the local administration can decide whether lockdown is necessary for any certain area or not,” he said. “But there was no decision on announcing general holiday.”
Schools, colleges to reopen on May 23
The government has decided to reopen schools and colleges on May 23 due to the recent spike in Coronavirus infections in the country.
The Education Ministry issued a notice in this regard on Thursday.
The decision was taken considering the safety of students, teachers and staffers and during the closure online classes will continue, the notice said.
Classes in all primary, secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions were scheduled to resume on March 30.
Also read: Schools, colleges likely to remain closed until Eid: Dipu
Earlier in the morning Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said the schools and colleges are likely to remain shut until Eid-ul-Fitr vacation if the recent spike in Coronavirus infections continues.
“The closure of primary, secondary and higher secondary level institutions is likely to be extended until Eid-ul-Fitr like the universities if the coronavirus cases continue to rise. A decision in this regard will be taken later after a meeting with National Technical Advisory Committee formed to fight COVID-19,” she said.
The government shut educational institutions on March 17 last year after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8. The closure was extended several times, most recently until late March this year.
On February 22 the education minister announced that university classes would resume on May 24.
Also read: Covid-19: Educational institutions reopening may be delayed
Residential halls were scheduled to be reopened on May 17.
Covid-19 claimed 35 more lives and infected 3,587 others in the past 24 hours till Thursday morning amid an alarming spike in cases over the past few weeks in Bangladesh.
The coronavirus fatalities rose to 8,763 with the latest figure while the new cases pushed the total infections to 580,808, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records 3-month high 34 deaths; 3,587 fresh cases
With the fresh 3,537 cases, Bangladesh has seen the worst daily increase for the second consecutive day since July 15, 2020.
The free movement of people ignoring the health protocols is believed to be the reason behind the recent upsurge in cases.
Covid-19: BNP postpones Golden Jubilee progs until March 30
In the wake of a fresh spike in coronavirus transmission, BNP on Wednesday postponed its all the programmes chalked out to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of independence until March 30.
BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, also the convener of the party's national committee on celebrating the Golden Jubilee, came up with the announcement at a press conference at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.
“The Covid-19 situation in the country has now taken a dangerous turn. The number of coronavirus infections and deaths is surging seriously throughout this week,” he said.
The BNP leader said the risk of transmission of the virus has increased through welcoming foreign guests and holding various programmes.
Also read: BNP launches year-long Golden Jubilee programmes
“Considering the overall corona situation in the country and giving importance to the protection of public health and people’s worry about the rise in corona infection, BNP's Golden Jubilee programmes have been postponed till March 30.”
He said they will reschedule their programmes taken to mark the Golden Jubilee and implement those if the Covid situation improves.
Speaking at the press conference, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said as a responsible political party, BNP thinks all meetings and rallies should be postponed immediately due to the severity of corona transmission.
Also read: Bangladesh begins birth centenary, golden jubilee of independence celebrations
He urged all of their party leaders and activists across the country to wear masks and maintain safe physical distancing and health safety rules. “You please don't put yourself in danger by going to the crowded places and mass gatherings.”
Fakhrul also called upon the party leaders and workers to encourage people to abide by the health hygiene rules.
Earlier on February 24, BNP announced a 19-day programme for the month of March to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence.
As part of the programmes, the party had plans to bring out a Golden Jubilee rally in the capital on March 26 and hold a grand rally on March 30 at Suhrawardy Udyan.
Also read: Bangladesh reports new high of 3,567 Corona cases; 25 more die
Fakhrul urged the government to take immediate steps to slow down the corona transmission by postponing all the state programmes. “We’re calling upon the government to stop all programmes and events by giving focus on Covid preventive measures,” he said.
The BNP leader alleged that the government has failed to involve people with the Golden Jubilee celebration programmes. “They’re holding various events in the name of the Golden Jubilee only to appease their foreign masters.”
Global Covid-19 cases surpass 124 million
With the Covid-19 situation worsening around the world, the global caseload crossed 124 million on Wednesday.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the global Covid-19 tally and fatalities now stand at 124,143,841 and 2,733,380, respectively.
The US has recorded the highest number of cases and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The North American country's case count and deaths now stand at 29,920,561 and 543,793, respectively, as per the latest university data.
Brazil reported more than 3,000 Covid-19 deaths in a single day for the first time on Tuesday, amid calls for the government and the new health minister to take action to stem the nation’s resurgence of coronavirus infections, reports AP.
In recent weeks, Latin America’s largest country has become the pandemic’s global epicentre, with more deaths from the virus each day than in any other nation.
Tuesday’s record toll of 3,251 deaths was driven by the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous, which recorded 1,021 new fatalities, far above the previous high of 713 last July.
The total case count reached 12,130,091 while deaths climbed to 298,676 on Wednesday morning.
Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the virus worldwide in terms of both deaths and cases, second only to the United States.
Also read: Global Covid fatalities top 2.7 million
India's Covid-19 tally reached 11,686,796 on Wednesday, as 40,715 new cases were reported from across the country.
Besides, 199 deaths since Monday morning took the toll to 160,166, showing the highest number of fatalities in a day this year so far.
Situation in Bangladesh
Some 3,554 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, the highest number of infections registered by the country in a single day.
Bangladesh also recorded 18 more Covid-related deaths during the period, raising the death toll to 8,738.
Also read: Global Covid cases near 122 million
With the fresh cases, Bangladesh has seen the worst daily increase since July 15, 2020, pushing up the total infections to 525,994. The infection rate jumped to 13.69 percent from 11.19 percent a day before.
Bangladesh is seeing an alarming rise in coronavirus infections in the past few weeks after a downtrend in both the death toll and new cases.
On January 19, Bangladesh reported its virus infection rate at just 5 percent and at one stage it fell below 3 percent. The cases have started soaring again since February 9.
Bangladesh reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8, 2020, and the first death on March 18 the same year.
In Bangladesh, Covid-19 tests are conducted at 118 government and private hospitals.
Also read: Global Covid cases top 121 million
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 vaccination drive is underway across the country. So far, 4,911,902 people have been vaccinated in the country since the drive began with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab on February 7.
New variant may be behind Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts
Amid a sudden upsurge in coronavirus cases, health experts fear that a highly transmissible variant of the deadly virus might have appeared in Bangladesh through mutations.
They think a comprehensive study and genome squeezing is necessary to examine whether the mutations have led to the new variant contributing to the upsurge in Covid cases in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, a team of Bangladeshi researchers in collaboration with Monash University in Malaysia found that coronavirus mutated 4,604 times in Bangladesh from April to December last year.
Examining 371 genome sequences of the virus, they found 34 unique mutations in Bangladesh.
The researchers laid emphasis on conducting more research on the unique mutations as they think any of them can be deadlier and the cause of the recent spike in the virus cases.
Also read: Virus variants, vaccine inequity responsible for rising Covid caseload: WHO
Causes behind the fresh wave of COVID-19 in Bangladesh
Talking to UNB, noted virologist Nazrul Islam, a member of the national technical advisory committee formed to tackle Covid-19, said it seems that a fresh wave of the coronavirus has begun in the country.
9 UK-returnees escape from quarantine in Sylhet, return after 12 hours
Nine UK-returnees of the same family disappeared from a Sylhet hotel that has been converted to an institutional quarantine centre on Sunday, before returning around 12 hours later.
A year into pandemic, veterans halls 'barely hanging' on
Paul Guilbeault knew the writing was on the wall for the last Veterans of Foreign Wars post in this city south of Boston when businesses across Massachusetts were ordered to close as the coronavirus pandemic took hold last March.
Don’t use weather as a basis to relax COVID-19 control measures: WMO
The current onset of warmer temperatures in the northern hemisphere, should not be used as a trigger to relax measures to halt the spread of coronavirus, the UN weather agency cautioned on Thursday.
Dhaka wants to lock-in closer trade and economic ties to Male by entering agreements
Bangladesh has urged Maldives to sign Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) between the two countries to strengthen the relations on trade and investment fronts.