coronavirus situation
Nothing to be sceptical about Chinese vaccines: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said there is nothing to worry about the safety of Chinese vaccines, mentioning that millions of people used the vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Listen, we heard the same when Covid-19 vaccine – AstraZeneca – first came to Bangladesh. So, there’s nothing to worry about (Chinese vaccines). WHO approved the vaccines,” he said when a reporter raised the issue.
Dr Momen referred to what he saw in video (fake) that 13 nurses turned senseless in the UK after taking AstraZeneca vaccine doses. “This kind of thing comes up.”
More than 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in China, according to international media.
Read: FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
“There has been no problem for any of them (in China) who got vaccinated,” said the Foreign Minister, adding that there is no reason to get worried.
Covid claims 203 more lives in Bangladesh, another 12,198 infected
Struggling with Covid-19’s grim second wave, Bangladesh lost 203 more lives to the deadly virus, while another 12,198 people contracted it in24 hours till Tuesday morning.
The new numbers took the country’s death tally to 16,842 and the caseload to 10,47,155, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases were detected after testing 41,755 samples during the period, pushing up the case positivity rate to 29.21%.
According to the DGHS, 2,339 people lost the battle to Covid-19 and 125,596 more got infected as of July13.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the 24-hour period.
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
Also read: Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
So far, 889,167 people have recovered from the disease, taking the country’s recovery rate to 84.91%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deaths, 61 were reported in Dhaka, 53 in Khulna, and 30 in Chattogram divisions and 27 in Rajshahi. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, seven in Mymensingh and five each in Barishal and Sylhet divisions.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, making those the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Lockdown eased
The government has decided to ease all lockdown restrictions in the country for eight days ahead of Eid ul Azha.
In a notification on Tuesday morning, the cabinet division said that the lockdown restrictions will be lifted from July 14 midnight to the morning of July 23.
However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order.
Also read: FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that Bangladesh Railway is going to restore its passenger train services for eight days from July 15-22 across the country, keeping 50% of the seats empty apparently to facilitate the movement of people during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Public transport services and business institutions will also be allowed to function.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on July 21 amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, shattering records every day.
A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there is an emergency.
Mass inoculation to restart Monday with Sinopharm, Tuesday with Moderna: DGHS
Mass inoculation for Covid-19 will restart from Monday (July 12) with Chinese vaccine Sinopharm in district and upazila hospitals and from Tuesday (July 13) with COVAX’s Modera jabs in municipal hospitals, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Sunday.
Line director of the vaccine deployment committee, Professor Dr Shamsul Haque announced the news during the regular Covid-19 bulletin of the DGHS.
By Sunday Moderna doses will reach vaccine centres across the country, while Sinopharm doses were sent Saturday to all the municipal centres, he said.
Also read: Massive vaccination to begin in July: PM
The additional stock has been ensured for sending to districts and upazilas, said Dr Shamsul Haque, mentioning that all the preparation for mass inoculation has been completed.
As from Monday and the next day, people across the country will start getting shots again, it can be said that mass inoculation for Covi-19 resumed, he added.
Dr Haque said the 1 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine so far received will be administered at the seven hospitals of Dhaka and after that Moderna vaccine doses will be administered in these hospitals.
Also read: Registration for Covid vaccination to restart Thursday
In the other 40 Covid-19 vaccination centres of the city, Sinopharm vaccine shots will be administered till Monday and after that Moderna shots will be administered in those hospitals, he added.
Soon a decision will be taken on the urgent vaccination needs of the students who want to go abroad for study as a conversation with the Prime Minister is ongoing, said the line director of the vaccine deployment committee.
Until now expatriate workers were being vaccinated in seven centres of Dhaka, but from Monday they will be able to receive the shots from any medical college of the country, said Dr Shamsul.
1.84 lakh doses of Moderna, Sinopharm vaccines reach Chattogram
Some 184,000 doses of Moderna and Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines reached Chattogram on Sunday as the government is set to accelerate the inoculation drive amid the worsening corona situation.
Among the shots, 105,600 doses of Moderna MRNA developed by the USA, while the rest 78,400 are of Sinopharm developed by China, said a PID handout.
It is expected that the vaccination drive in Chattogram will begin on Tuesday (July 13).
Also read: Bangladesh to receive 60 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses in Aug: Minister
The Moderna vaccine doses will be given in nine centres of the city, while that of Sinopharm at the upazila level. The people, aged above 35, would be able to receive the vaccines on completion of the registration process.
Civil Surgeon of Chattogram Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi received the vaccines of Moderna and Sinopharm, carried by freezer vans of Beximco Pharmaceutical.
Earlier, more than 8.5 lakh shots of Covid vaccines --762,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and 91,200 doses of Sinopharm vaccine-- were sent to Chattogram.
Also read: Bangladesh hopeful of receiving 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month: FM
On January 31 last, some 456,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine reached Chattogram in the first phase, while 306,000 doses of the same vaccines on April 09 in the second phase. Later, some 91,200 shoots of Sinopharm vaccine reached the port city on June 18 last.
The Covid vaccination first began in Chattogram on February 7 last.
Covid shatters all records in Bangladesh with 230 single-day deaths, 11,856 cases
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is getting more fatal with every passing day, as the country saw the highest-ever 230 deaths and 11,856 new cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
With the new numbers, Bangladesh’s death tally hit 16,419 while the caseload 1,021,189, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Earlier, Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 212 on July 9, and 11, 651 cases on July 8.
However, the country’s daily case positivity rate fell to 29.67% from Saturday’s 31.46%, as 40,015 samples were tasted during the period.
The fatality rate today rose to 1.61% from Saturday’s 1.60%, said the DGHS.
Bangladesh has been seeing over 150 deaths for a week since its logging 164 deaths on July 4. Also, the average new daily detected cases remained over 10,000 for the last seven days.
Also read: Covid nightmare in Barisal division: Record caseload of 710 reported
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June marking the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month of 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
So far, 874,501 people recovered from the disease taking the country’s recovery rate to 85.64%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deceased, 133 were men and 97 women.
Khulna division, the emerging hotspot of Covid, saw 66 of the deaths during the 24-hour period, while Dhaka reported 56 and Chattogram 39. Besides, 26 people in Rajshahi, 22 in Rangpur, eight each in Barishal and Sylhet and five in Mymensingh divisions died of Covid-19.
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration on July 8 for receiving Covid-19 jabs, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Also read: 14 more covid patients die in Khulna
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 206,140 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,254 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 22,342 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 6,644 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,295,218 received the second shot and 5,820,033 the first one so far.
Global Covid cases surpass 186.4 million
The global corona caseload has now topped 186.4 million as the second wave of the Covid pandemic continues its onslaught across the world amid rapid inoculation efforts.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 186,405,992 and 4,024,869, respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,413, 404, 520 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
The US has logged 33,847, 474 cases and 607,135 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Read: 1200-bed Covid dedicated hospital to be set up in BSMMU
Brazil registered 1,205 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 532,893, the health ministry said Saturday.
As many as 48,504 new cases were detected, taking the total caseload to 19,069,003, the ministry said.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,795,716 on Saturday as 42,766 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 1,206 deaths due to the pandemic since Friday morning took the total death toll to 407,145.
Situation in Bangladesh
Passing through a catastrophic phase of Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh reported 185 more coronavirus-related deaths and 8,772 new cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
Read:Covid claims 46 more lives in Khulna division, say officials
The new numbers pushed the country’s death tally to 16,189 while the caseload to 10,09,315, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh already crossed the 1-million mark of Covid cases on Thursday.
Bangladesh has been seeing above 10,000 Covid cases on average for the last seven days as the second wave of the Coronavirus continues to play havoc.
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs on July 8, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Read:Covid onslaught in Bangladesh continues; 185 more die
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 162,513 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,237 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 15,698 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 5,925 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,294,911 received the second shot and 5,820,023 the first one so far.
1200-bed Covid dedicated hospital to be set up in BSMMU
The government will establish a 1200-bed coronavirus dedicated hospital in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University to fight the soaring virus, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday.
With over 400 ICU beds and more than 400 ICU equivalent HDO’s, this will be the most modern Covid-19 hospital in the country, said Zahid after visiting BSMMU convention centre.
He said this convention centre was chosen for the proposed Covid facility after inspecting buildings across the city following the prime minister’s direction to increase the number of beds in hospitals across the country.
Also read: Country's largest Covid-19 dedicated hospital opened in Dhaka
The government is trying to expedite the opening of the hospital by incorporating the oxygen supply facility as soon as possible, said the minister.
As 80% of the hospital beds across the country are occupied with patients there is no other option left but to increase the number of beds, he said.
Also read: Govt stops corona treatment at 3 dedicated hospitals
In the last 10 days at least 90,000 more people were infected with Covid-19 so more manpower is needed in the health service system too, he added.
BSMMU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Sharfuddin Ahmed said, the Covid dedicated hospital will be set up at the fifth floor of the convention hall and it will be named after Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib.
Momen addresses IUT Freshers' reception
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has urged the students to follow the health directives while continuing their pursuit of knowledge so that when the right time comes they can come forward as an asset to humanity.
“The world is passing through an unprecedented time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But at the same time, we are all moving forward to achieve our goals through adaptation and innovation in this changed reality,” he said.
The Foreign Minister was addressing the freshers’ reception ceremony of the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) on Saturday.
Also read: Relations with China as usual: FM Momen
Askar Mussinov, Assistant Secretary General for Science and Technology, OIC, Chief patron Prof. Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University of Technology, and Dr. Omar Jah, Pro- Vice Chancellor of IUT, also spoke at the event held virtually.
Covid onslaught in Bangladesh continues; 185 more die
Passing through a catastrophic phase of Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh reported 185 more coronavirus-related deaths and 8,772 new cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The new numbers pushed the country’s death tally to 16,189 while the caseload to 10,09,315, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh already crossed the 1-million mark of Covid cases on Thursday.
The new infections were detected after testing 27,884 samples during the period. This takes the daily case positivity rate to 31.46% from Friday’s 31.62, said the DGHS.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.60 during the period.
So far, 868,139 people have recovered from the disease, putting the recovery rate at 86.01% a declining indicator unlike others.
Bangladesh has been seeing above 10,000 Covid cases on average for the last seven days as the second wave of the Coronavirus continues to play havoc.
Dhaka division, the worst hit region, reported 70 of the deaths today while Khulna the newly-emerged hotspot saw 51 deaths. Besides 20 people died in Chattogram, 13 in Rajshahi, 11 in Rangpur, 10 in Barishal, seven in Sylhet and three in Mymensingh divisions during the period.
Also read: 14 more die of Covid at Rajshahi hospital
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs on July 8, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 162,513 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,237 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 15,698 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 5,925 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,294,911 received the second shot and 5,820,023 the first one so far.
Also read: Covid claims 18 more lives in Kushtia
Vaccine procurement update
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladesh is hopeful of receiving more vaccine doses this month from Japan, the European Union (EU) and the USA under COVAX facility apart from a steady flow of that from China.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is expected to get around 2.5 million doses of vaccine from Japan while 1 million from the EU under the COVAX facility. “These’re likely to be AstraZeneca vaccine doses.”
The Foreign Minister said he talked to the Japanese Foreign Minister recently and Bangladesh mentioned about Japan’s vaccine supply to others.
Dr Momen said Japan will provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh, too but the exact quantity was not mentioned. But a big quantity of vaccine doses is expected to arrive this week or next week under the COVAX facility. “We expect it’ll be around 2.5 million doses.”
Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque today said Bangladesh will receive 60 lakh more doses of Pfizer vaccine from COVAX facility by early August.
Minister Maleque said the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the vaccine delivery information on Friday through a letter.
“By the end of July or in the beginning of August, we’ll receive 50 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China, too,” Zahid Maleque added.
“We’re hopeful of having 1 to 1.5 crore doses of vaccines in our stock within one and a half months. More vaccines will be coming in August,” he said.
Bangladesh in grip of Covid’s wave; sees record 212 deaths
Bangladesh on Friday saw 212 Covid-19 deaths, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country, amid a strict nationwide lockdown in effect since July 1.
Also, Covid-19 infections in the country are at their peak now, with 9,665 new cases reported each day – the highest daily average.
The country recorded 11,324 infections in 24 hours till Friday morning after testing 36,850 samples.
Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 201 on Wednesday and 11, 651 cases on Thursday.
The country is in the grip of a second wave of the coronavirus that is threatening to overwhelm its health service.
Also read: Dhaka reemerging as Covid hotspot as battle plan ‘fails’: Experts
There have been 1,000,543 infections and 16,004 coronavirus-related deaths in Bangladesh since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
However, the test positivity rate dropped to 14.49%. The daily positivity rate of 31.62% on Thursday raised concerns among experts as the World Health Organization recommended a 5% or below rate.
Meanwhile, the death rate remains unchanged at 1.60%, and the recovery rate dropped to 86.19%.
Khulna division reported the highest 79 deaths, Dhaka 53, Chattogram 26, Rajshahi 23, Rangpur 12, Mymensingh eight, Sylhet six and Barishal five.
Also read: Global Covid cases top 185 million
Hospitals are now overwhelmed with patients and struggling to cope as the country is experiencing a devastating second wave of Covid infections, driven by the Delta variant.
The Prime Minister's Office on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to increase oxygen supply and corona beds in hospitals across the country to ensure the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 10,114,578 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 3.1% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.