COVID-19
7-day Covid vaccination campaign from Dec 1 marking Victory Day
The government will launch another special vaccination campaign against Covid-19, marking the country’s Victory Day, said the Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday.
The campaign will start from December 1 and end on December 7, he said in an event marking World Antibacterial Week at a city hotel.
Read more: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
Around 90 lakh people will be vaccinated under this campaign, he added.
“We have been successful in our previous campaigns. Hopefully this one will be successful too,” said the minister.
Read more: Campaign for 1st, 2nd doses of Covid vaccine to continue till Oct 8: DGHS
So far, 14.69 crore people have been vaccinated with the first dose while more than 12 crore people with the second dose against Covid-19, he added.
Covid-19: Bangladesh registers another death, 26 cases
Bangladesh registered another Covid-linked death and 26 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
With the new numbers, the total number of fatalities rose to 29,431 while the caseload rose to 2,036,393, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate rose to 0.66 per cent from Sunday’s 0.64 per cent as 3,943 samples were tested during the period.
Read: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
The deceased was a man from the Sylhet division which took the death toll in the division to 1,356.
The mortality and recovery rates remained unchanged at 1.45 percent and 97.47 per cent, respectively.
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
Bangladesh reports another Covid death, 35 cases
Bangladesh reported another Covid-linked death and 35 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
With the new numbers, the total fatalities rose to 29,430 while the caseload rose to 2,036,268, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: Covid-19: One death, 69 new cases reported
The daily case test positivity rate rose to 1.05 per cent from Tuesday’s 0.91 per cent as 3,324 samples were tested during the period.
The deceased was a man from Dhaka division.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent and the recovery rate at 97.44 per cent.
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
Global Covid cases surpass 641 million
The overall number of global Covid-19 cases has now crossed 641 million.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 641,008,181 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,617,997 on Wednesday morning.
The US has recorded 99,974,387 cases so far, while 1,100,631 people have died from the virus in the country, both highest counts around the world.
India registered 474 new daily COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the federal health ministry said.
The cases reported on Tuesday mark a decrease in comparison to the daily caseload of Monday's 547.
READ: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
The country also logged one related death during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 530,533 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese mainland on Tuesday reported 1,568 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said Wednesday.
Covid in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 29 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
The total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,429 as no death was reported during this period.
READ: Out of Covid bubble, Xi faces dramatically changed world at G-20
With the new infections, the caseload rose to 2,036,233, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate dropped to 0.91per cent from Monday’s 0.92 per cent from as 3,188 samples were tested during the period.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate rose to 97.44 per cent.
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
Bangladesh reports 29 more Covid cases, zero death
Bangladesh reported 29 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
The total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,429 as no death was reported during this period.
With the new infections, the caseload rose to 2,036,233, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: Out of Covid bubble, Xi faces dramatically changed world at G-20
The daily case test positivity rate dropped to 0.91per cent from Monday’s 0.92 per cent from as 3,188 samples were tested during the period.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate rose to 97.44 per cent.
Read more: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
Bangladesh logs 2 more Covid deaths, 38 cases
Bangladesh reported two more Covid-linked deaths and 38 more cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The new number rose the fatalities to 29,429 and the caseload to 2,036,204, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate rose to 0.92 per cent from Sunday’s 0.85 per cent as 4,139 samples were tested during the period.
Read more: Bangladesh logs another Covid death, 35 cases
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate at 97.43 per cent.
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
Bangladesh logs another Covid death, 35 cases
Bangladesh reported another Covid-linked death and 35 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
The total fatalities rose to 29,427 and with the new infections, the caseload rose to 2,036,166, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate dropped to 0.85 per cent from Saturday’s 1.20 per cent as 4,114 samples were tested during the period.
Read more: Bangladesh reports 69 more Covid cases, zero death
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate rose to 97.43 per cent.
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
China reports 10,000 new virus cases, capital closes parks
Beijing closed city parks and imposed other restrictions as the country faces a new wave of COVID-19 cases, even as millions of people remained under lockdown Friday in the west and south of China.
The country reported 10,729 new cases on Friday, almost all of them testing positive while showing no symptoms. More than 5 million people were under lockdown Friday in the southern manufacturing hub Guangzhou and the western megacity Chongqing.
With the bulk of Beijing’s 21 million people undergoing near daily testing, another 118 new cases were recorded in the sprawling city. Many city schools switched to online classes, hospitals restricted services and some shops and restaurants were shuttered, with their staff taken to quarantine. Videos on social media showed people in some areas protesting or fighting with police and health workers.
“It has become normal, just like eating and sleeping," said food service worker Yang Zheng, 39. “I think what it impacts most is kids because they need to go to school.”
Demands for testing every 24 to 48 hours are “troublesome,” said Ying Yiyang, who works in marketing.
“My life is for sure not comparable to what it was three years ago," said Ying. Family visits outside of Beijing can be difficult if the smartphone app that virtually all Chinese are required to display does not green-light travel back to the capital, Ying said.
“I just stay in Beijing,” Ying said.
Read more: Biden to meet China's Xi on Monday for Taiwan, Russia talks
Numerous villages on the capital's outskirts that are home to blue-collar workers whose labor keeps the city running were under lockdown. Many live in dormitory communities, which taxi and ride-sharing drivers said they were avoiding so as not to be placed in quarantine themselves.
Lockdowns in Guangzhou and elsewhere were due to end by Sunday, but authorities have repeatedly extended such restrictions with no explanation.
Chinese leaders had promised Thursday to respond to public frustration over its severe “zero-COVID” strategy that has confined millions to their homes and severely disrupted the economy.
The government said Friday it was reducing the amount of time incoming passengers would be required to undergo quarantine. The U.S. Embassy this week renewed its advisement for citizens to avoid travel to and within China unless absolutely necessary.
Incoming passengers will only be quarantined for five days, rather than the previous seven, at a designated location, followed by three days of isolation at their place of residence, according to a notice from the State Council, China's Cabinet.
It wasn’t immediately clear when and where the rules would take effect and whether they would apply to foreigners and Chinese citizens alike.
Relaxed standards would also be applied to foreign businesspeople and athletes, in what appeared to be a gradual move toward normalization.
Airlines will no longer be threatened with a two-week-long suspension of flights if five or more passengers tested positive, the regulations said, potentially providing a major expansion of seats on such flights that have shrunk in numbers and soared in price since restrictions were imposed in 2020.
Those flying to China will only need to show a single negative test for the virus within 48 hours of traveling, the rules said. Formerly, two tests within that time period were were required.
“Zero-COVID” has kept China’s infection rate relatively low but weighs on the economy and has disrupted life by shutting schools, factories and shops, or sealing neighborhoods without warning. With the new surge in cases, a growing number of areas are shutting down businesses and imposing curbs on movement. In order to enter office buildings, shopping malls and other public places, people are required to show a negative result from a virus test taken as often as once a day.
With economic growth weakening again after rebounding to 3.9% over a year earlier in the three months ending in September, forecasters had been expecting bolder steps toward reopening the country, whose borders remain largely closed.
Read more: China launches Covid-19 vaccine inhaled through mouth
President and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is expected to make a rare trip abroad next week, but has given little indication of backing off on a policy the party has closely associated with social stability and the avowed superiority of his policies.
That has been maintained by its seven-person Politburo Standing Committee, which was named in October at a party congress that also expanded Xi’s political dominance by appointing him to a third five-year term as leader. It is packed with his loyalists, including the former party chief of Shanghai, who enforced a draconian lockdown that sparked food shortages, shut factories and confined millions to their homes for two months or more.
People from cities with a single case in the past week are barred from visiting Beijing, while travelers from abroad are required to be quarantined in a hotel for seven to 10 days — if they are able to navigate the timely and opaque process of acquiring a visa.
Business groups say that discourages foreign executives from visiting, which has prompted companies to shift investment plans to other countries. Visits from U.S. officials and lawmakers charged with maintaining the crucial trading relations amid tensions over tariffs, Taiwan and human rights have come to a virtual standstill.
Last week, access to part of the central city of Zhengzhou, home to the world’s biggest iPhone factory, was suspended after residents tested positive for the virus. Thousands of workers jumped fences and hiked along highways to escape the factory run by Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group. Many said coworkers who fell ill received no help and working conditions were unsafe.
Also last week, people posted outraged comments on social media after a 3-year-old boy, whose compound in the northwest was under quarantine, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. His father complained that guards who were enforcing the closure refused to help and tried to stop him as he rushed his son to a hospital.
Despite such complaints, Chinese citizens have little say in policy making under the one-party authoritarian system that maintains rigid controls over media and public demonstrations.
Speculation on when measures will be eased has centered on whether the government is willing to import or domestically produce more effective vaccines, with the elderly population left particularly vulnerable.
That could come as soon as next spring, when a new slate of officials are due to be named under Xi's continuing leadership. Or, restrictions could persist much longer if the government continues to reject the notion of living to learn with a relatively low level of cases that cause far fewer hospitalizations and deaths than when the pandemic was at its height.
Bangladesh reports 69 more Covid cases, zero death
Bangladesh reported 69 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
The total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,426 as no death was reported during this period for the fourth consecutive day.
Read more: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
With the new infections, the caseload rose to 2,036,061, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate dropped to 1.52 per cent from Tuesday’s 1.66 per cent from as 4,528 samples were tested during the period.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate rose to 97.41 per cent.
Read more: Updated Covid boosters rev up protection: Pfizer study
In October, the country reported 60 Covid-linked deaths and 10,043 cases.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
The United States has donated another six million pediatric doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh, bringing the total number of American vaccine donations to more than 100 million.
The US is the largest COVID-19 vaccine donor to Bangladesh. American COVID-19 vaccine donations now account for more than 70 percent of all international COVID-19 vaccine donations to Bangladesh.
Read more: US donates additional 10mn Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh
“This milestone underscores the strong partnership between our two countries and is just one part of the incredible progress Bangladesh has made in fully vaccinating nearly 75 percent of the entire country,” said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas.
Read more: Bangladesh receives more doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from US
He said this is a remarkable achievement. “I congratulate everyone involved in protecting Bangladeshi children and adults against the pandemic,” said Ambassador Haas.
Ambassador Haas and Mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation Dr Selina Hayat Ivy joined a programme at school vaccination site in Narayanganj to mark this milestone in the Bangladesh-US partnership to fight the pandemic.
The United States has contributed more than $140 million in COVID-19 related development and humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh.