United News of Bangladesh

Dhaka, the overcrowded capital city of Bangladesh, has ranked sixth on the list of cities with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 141 at 9:50am this morning (May 21, 2025). Today’s air was classified as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups,’ referring to a health threat, according to the AQI index. When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 50 and 100, air quality is considered ‘moderate’, usually sensitive individuals should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion, between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. Pakistan’s Lahore, India’s Delhi and United Arab Emirates’ Dubai cities respectively occupied the first, second and third spots on the list, with AQI scores of 172, 163 and 160 respectively. Dhaka’s air turns ‘moderate’ this morning The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them. The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

Although he recovered from coronavirus, the health condition of Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury deteriorated on Tuesday.

A female constable of Khulna Metropolitan Police died at Kachna village in Mollahat upazila on Tuesday morning  with breathing problems 14 days after she gave birth to a child.

Nine people, including two doctors and five staff of Sadar Hospital, were kept in quarantine after an auto-rickshaw driver suffering from cold and breathing problems died on Monday.   The identity of the deceased could not be known yet.     Meanwhile, eight to 10 houses in the neighbourhood of the deceased were put under lockdown.   Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Zobayer Hossain said nine people were kept in quarantine after the death.   Civil Surgeon HM Anowarul Islam said the 40-year-old deceased had been suffering from cold, cough and breathing problems for three days.   “His sample has been collected since he is a coronavirus suspect. The body will be buried following the rules of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR),” he said.   Kushtia General Hospital's Dr Tapos Kumar Sarkar said the man, who lived at a rented house in the town's Chowrhas, died before he was brought to the hospital.   He caught a cold on Friday and had cough and breathing complications, Sarkar said.   Meanwhile, a new patient has tested positive for COVID-19 in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 49 on Monday. Bangladesh has so far confirmed five deaths.   The global death toll climbed to 33,993 on Monday -- a mortality rate of 18 percent, according to Worldometer.

A woman gave birth to quadruplets at a private hospital in the district town on Saturday.