COVID-19
Over 200 protest flight cancellation at Dhaka airport
Around 200 Saudi Arabia-bound migrant workers staged a protest inside the Dhaka airport early on Saturday morning after a scheduled special flight of Biman Bangladesh to Riyadh was cancelled at the last minute.
The special flight to Riyadh was scheduled to take off around 6.15 am, with some 201 passengers, said Tahera Khandaker, DGM (Public Relations)of Biman Bangladesh. "But the flight was cancelled as the Saudi authorities made a delay in giving landing permission."
The aggrieved passengers of the flight soon staged a protest inside the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Also read: Coordinated efforts made to ensure expats' comfortable return to 5 countries: FM
"However, the authorities concerned have made special arrangements for all the passengers at different hotels. They will fly later," said Tahera.
The government has decided to operate special flights of national carrier Biman to five countries, including four in the Middle East with high concentration of Bangladeshi expat workers, from April 17.
Also read: Bangladesh to operate special flights to carry overseas workers
The government has suspended operations of all domestic and international passenger flights to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country during the 'all-out lockdown', which came into effect on April 14.
However, the special air services will allow overseas workers currently stuck in Bangladesh to return to their places of work, officials have said.
Also read: Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17
Day 4 of lockdown: Dhaka wears a deserted look
Residents of Dhaka woke up to deserted roads as the Covid-19 lockdown in Bangladesh entered the fourth day on Saturday.
The complete lockdown, which came into effect on April 14 morning to contain the spread of Covid, will continue till April 21 midnight.
On Saturday, fewer private vehicles were seen plying on the city's roads as most of the otherwise busy stretches, including Bijoy Sarani and Mirpur Road, remained empty.
At all the important junctions of the city, the police have set up barricades and check posts to monitor the movement of vehicles as well as people.
Rickshaws, which provide last-mile connectivity to the residents, were, however, seen plying in the bylanes. Kitchen markets in the city too remained open though the footfall was low as compared to other days.
Vaccines to be made available at Alaska airports
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says COVID-19 vaccines would be made available at key airports in the state starting June 1.
He made the announcement Friday, as he unveiled plans aimed at bolstering Alaska’s pandemic-battered tourist industry.
Dunleavy, a Republican, outlined plans for a national marketing campaign aimed at luring tourists and said the vaccine offering is “probably another good reason to come to the state of Alaska in the summer.”
Dunleavy and other state leaders have been pushing to allow large cruise ships to return to Alaska after COVID-19 restrictions kept them away last year.
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
RICHMOND, Va. — The first cases of the so-called Brazil COVID-19 variant have been identified in two samples from residents of Virginia, state health officials said Friday.
In a news release, the Virginia Department of Health said one case involving the P.1 variant was identified in an adult resident of the Northwest Region who had a history of domestic travel during the exposure period. The second case was identified in an adult resident of the Eastern Region with no history of travel, the department said.
According to the department, neither case had a record of COVID-19 vaccination prior to the onset of the illness.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The number of new COVID-19 cases is ticking up again in New Mexico as the death toll reaches another milestone.
State health officials reported Friday that four more people have succumbed to the virus, pushing the total to 4,001 since the pandemic began last year.
While the death rate has declined dramatically since peaking in December, state officials continue to push for people to get vaccinated, saying doing so will lessen the chances of severe illness or death.
With 1,550 confirmed cases being reported over the past week, the seven-day average for new daily cases remains above the state’s target.
PHOENIX -- Arizona on Friday reported 845 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and 30 more deaths, topping the state’s latest seven-day rolling averages for both pandemic metrics.
The state’s pandemic totals rose to 852,570 cases and 17,153 deaths, according to he Department of Health Services’ coronavirus dashboard.
The latest seven-day rolling average of daily new cases was 689.3 as of Wednesday, up over the previous two weeks from 600.7 on March 31. That’s according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Meanwhile, the rolling average of daily deaths declined, dropping from 14.7 as of March 31 to 12.3 on Wednesday. COVID-19-related hospitalizations continued to range between 500 and 600.
MISSION, Kan. — Sixty out of several hundred health departments, pharmacies, hospitals and clinics that are administering COVID-19 vaccines in Kansas asked this week for a pause in shipments next week.
“We are at kind of a transition that we predicted when there there was this shortage of vaccine,” said Marci Nielsen, a special advisor to Gov. Laura Kelly. “Now that we are having more vaccine come into the state and people who really wanted to get vaccinated have already gotten vaccinated, we are starting to see things slow down.”
She said the results of a newly completed survey found that the group that is the most hesitant in Kansas is most likely to be younger, female, less educated, lower income and slightly more rural than urban.
She said the research shows that older Kansans want to get information from their primary care provider. Younger residents, meanwhile, are more swayed by friends and relatives who get vaccinated without having any adverse effects.
Pressure is mounting to move quickly after a third highly contagious variant was detected in the state this week.
“We are working in an environment where urgency is still a part of the equation and folks don’t fully recognize that we are in a bit of a race against the variants,” she said. “And it is important if you want to get vaccinated or want to learn more about it speed matters here.”
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri chiropractor and his company are facing a federal complaint over their claims that zinc and vitamin D products were more effective than vaccines in treating or preventing COVID-19.
The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it had filed a complaint seeking to block further sales by Eric Anthony Nepute and his company, Quickwork LLC, which does business as Wellness Warrior.
It is the first action brought by the FTC under a new COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal “to engage in a deceptive act or practice that is associated with ‘the treatment, cure, prevention, mitigation, or diagnosis of COVID-19,’” the agency said.
A call to Nepute’s business seeking comment on Friday was not immediately returned.
Nepute continues to make the false claims despite earlier warnings to stop, said the commission. He and his company could face civil penalties. The claims made by Nepute and his company exploit fears caused the pandemic and pose a “significant risk to public health and safety,” the commission said.
Nepute promoted his bogus health claims in video monologues on social media that have been viewed millions of times, the FTC said. Other videos by Nepute claim masks can be harmful and coronavirus death statistics have been inflated.
When Facebook shut down his page in February, Nepute created a new page and website and reposted his videos, according to the complaint.
TORONTO — The premier of Canada’s most populous province says he will be limiting outdoor gatherings to those in the same household and will close playgrounds and golf courses amid a record wave of coronavirus infections fueled by variants.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says interprovincial travel will also be limited. Ford says those who live alone will be able to meet someone from another household outside. Big box stores will be limited to 25 percent capacity.
Ontario is pleading with other provinces to send nurses and other health workers. Ford blamed a lack of vaccines but made no mention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that Pfizer is doubling the number of vaccines to Canada over the next month and getting millions more in May and June.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said in total Canada will receive between 48 and 50 million doses by the end of June. Canada has a population of 38 million and all eligible Canadians are expected to get at least one dose by July.
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan on Friday extended by five weeks a pandemic order that requires masks in public, limits capacity inside businesses and caps gathering sizes, as the state continued to confront the country’s highest daily coronavirus infection rate.
Also read: US clears Moderna vaccine for COVID-19, 2nd shot in arsenal
The state health department’s measure, which was expected and replaces one that had been due to expire Monday, includes a change. Children ages 2 to 4 in day care facilities or camps are no longer exempt from having to wear face coverings, starting April 26.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has resisted tightening restrictions that were in place during two previous COVID-19 surges, including prohibitions on indoor restaurant dining, in-person high school instruction and youth sports. She instead is urging a voluntary pause on the activities and pushing vaccinations and treatments.
Michigan’s daily case rate has led the U.S. for weeks and COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state hit a record this week.
At least 43% of people ages 16 and older have gotten at least one dose, including 29% who are fully vaccinated.
PORTLAND, Ore. — As COVID-19 cases continue to increase in Oregon, officials on Friday addressed the “stark” and “unacceptable” disparities in COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported that people in the state’s wealthiest ZIP code are 58% vaccinated, while a low-income community that has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic is 22% vaccinated.
Also read: COVID-19 vaccine shipments begin in historic US effort
“I want to recognize the fact that vaccinations in Oregon have not been administered as equitably as they need to be,” said Pat Allen, the director of the state’s health authority.
Vaccine disparities have been addressed by Oregon health officials since shots began being administered in December.
At one point the Vaccine Advisory Committee discussed whether to prioritize racial minorities, but decided against it as they said people of color likely fell into other prioritized groups and due to concerns about legal issues if race was the focus.
Based on data from the health authority, white people represent 75% of Oregonians. While they only comprise about 50% of coronavirus cases, they account for 71% of vaccinations.
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey has registered more than 63,000 daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, as infections continue to soar to record levels.
The Health Ministry also reported 289 COVID-19-linked deaths, the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the outbreak. The deaths pushed the total number of fatalities in the country to 35,320.
The overall number of infections now stands at more than 4 million.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week imposed tighter restrictions in the country of 84 million for the first two weeks of Ramadan, and warned of stricter measures if the infection rate does not drop.
The measures include bans on intercity travel, a return to online education, the closing of sports and leisure centers and expanding the length of night-time curfews. Earlier, Erdogan had also re-imposed weekend lockdowns and ordered restaurants and cafes shut during the holy Muslim month.
The ministry says around 85% of the cases in the country can be traced to the faster-spreading variant that was first detected in Britain.
SANTIAGO, Chile — A real-world study of millions of Chileans who had received the Chinese-developed CoronaVac vaccine has found it 67% effective against symptoms and 80% against death from COVID-19.
Chile Health Ministry adviser Rafael Araos said Friday that the Chilean government’s study covered 10.5 million people, including 2.5 million who had received both doses of the vaccine and 1.5 million who had received a single dose between Feb. 2 and April 1.
It counted cases starting 14 days after application of the second dose of the vaccine, which in Chile was given 28 days after the first.
He said vaccines had reduced hospitalizations by 85%, intensive care visits by 89% and deaths by 80%.
It is one of the broadest studies so far published of any of the vaccines used against the coronavirus. Most previous studies were based on clinical studies of limited groups of thousands of people given the vaccines to test efficacy and safety prior to general use.
WASHINGTON — The White House says American Indian tribes and Alaska Native communities are getting more than $4 billion from President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief legislation.
The money will help address a range of issues, including getting more people vaccinated, improvements in testing and contact tracing and reimbursing tribal health systems for lost revenue during the coronavirus shutdown.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says at the coronavirus briefing that American Indians and Alaska Natives have borne an unusually heavy toll from the pandemic. They are more than three-and-a-half times as likely to get COVID-19 than whites and four times more likely to be hospitalized.
The money is “part of a broader commitment to increase access to vaccines and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in hard-hit communities,” Murthy says.
The Indian Health Service has already administered more than 1 million shots to people and the $600 million funding boost will expand that campaign. Part of the money will pay for mobile vaccination teams to go to remote or hard-to-reach communities.
NEW YORK — A panel of government health advisers have scheduled a new meeting to consider what to say about unusual blood clots linked to one type of coronavirus vaccine.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet April 23. The panel advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The group held an emergency meeting this week to decide what to advise government health officials about reports of an unusual combination of dangerous blood clots and low platelet counts in six women who had received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine.
The committee decided it didn’t have enough information and wanted to see if additional, similar reports are coming in before assessing the risk.
It’s not clear added data will be available at the next meeting. The CDC has received reports of possible similar illnesses, and is investigating them, but has not yet reported confirmed additional cases. The committee decided to meet regardless as it monitors the situation.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says the U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track coronavirus variants and analyze disease threats.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says the U.S. is averaging nearly 70,000 new daily coronavirus cases, up from about 53,000 just four weeks ago.
Hospitalizations have been trending higher, and deaths were up for the third day in a row. Along with relaxed restrictions on gatherings and indoor dining, the emergence of variants that spread more easily is part of the reason for the worsening trend.
White House officials unveiled a national network strategy featuring three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up gene-mapping of coronavirus samples; the creation of six “centers of excellence” partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens; and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats.
The effort relies on money approved by Congress as part of President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package. Typically, the government scrambles to counter a potential threat, but funding dries up when it recedes. The new genomic surveillance initiative aims to create a permanent infrastructure.
“It’s a transformative amount of money,” says Mary Lee Watts, federal affairs director at the American Society for Microbiology.
ROME — Italian Premier Mario Draghi announced Italy will take a “reasoned risk” in reopening restaurants with outdoor seating and school at all grade levels in some regions starting April 26
The openings will apply to regions that have the lowest tiers of restrictions. Mask-wearing and social distancing will be “scrupulously observed.” Italy’s 10 p.m. curfew will remain in place.
It’s the first sign of a gradual re-opening since the fall virus surge. Draghi says the “reasoned risks was based on data, which is improving but not dramatically.”
He calls the first phase in the opening “is an extraordinary opportunity not just for the economy but for our social lives.”
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa took the first step in its mass vaccination campaign on Friday by starting online registrations for the elderly to receive shots beginning next month
People age 60 years and older will be vaccinated first as they are regarded as having the highest risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19.
South Africa’s inoculation drive is dependent upon millions of doses of the Pfizer vaccine arriving in the country within weeks. So far South Africa has vaccinated only 290,000 of its 1.2 million health care workers, using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
This week, the government announced it would pause vaccinating its health workers with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following a report by the U.S FDA.
COVID-19 infections approaching highest rates ever, WHO warns
COVID-19 infections are approaching their highest rates since the pandemic began just over a year ago, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.
“Around the world, cases and deaths are continuing to increase at worrying rates”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking during his regular briefing, reports UN News.
“Globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled over the past two months. This is approaching the highest rate of infection that we have seen so far during the pandemic.”
As of Friday, there were 138.5 million cases worldwide, and more than 2.9 million deaths. The pandemic was declared in March 2020.
Tedros said some countries which had previously avoided widespread virus transmission are now witnessing “steep increases” in infections, with Papua New Guinea serving as an example.
Concern for Papua New Guinea
The Pacific island nation, which has a population of around eight million, had managed to keep the disease at bay. Up until the beginning of the year, there were less than 900 cases and nine deaths.
Currently, more than 9,300 cases and 82 deaths have been recorded, and all 22 provinces have been affected. The country’s health Minister, Jelta Wong, who also briefed journalists, said half of all cases and deaths were reported in the last month alone, and health workers are increasingly among those infected.
Also read: No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge
“Our biggest challenge is seemingly to the late adaption or acceptance of the ‘new normal’ and the disbelief in the disease itself,” he said. “This overlaps into much infodemic - and conspiracies and misinformation on the safety and the efficiency of the vaccines.”
The situation in Papua New Guinea, or PNG, is concerning, Tedros said, as it could lead to a much larger epidemic. Late last month, Australia donated some 8,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to its neighbour, and an additional 132,000 doses were delivered this week through the COVAX solidarity initiative.
Vaccine equity now
Tedros said PNG was a perfect example of why vaccine equity is so important, an issue which the WHO chief and other senior UN officials have repeatedly highlighted.
Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Financing for Development Forum that “to end the pandemic for good, we need equitable access to vaccines for everyone, everywhere.”
WHO continues to assess the pandemic’s evolution. Its Emergency Committee on COVID-19 met this week and Tedros said he will receive its latest advice on Monday.
Also read: Countries worldwide hit new records for virus cases, deaths
Update on virus variants
Monitoring of the COVID-19 virus variant first detected in India continues, WHO said on Friday.
The B 1 617 variant, which has two mutations, emerged at the end of last year and cases have been reported in other countries across Asia and North America.
“This is one variant of interest that we are following,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the agency’s Technical Lead on COVID-19.
“Having two of these mutations, which have been seen in other variants around the world, are concerning because there’s a similarity in these mutations that confer increased transmissibility, for example. Some of these mutations result in reduced neutralization which may have an impact on our counter measures, including the vaccines.”
Strengthening surveillance
COVID-19 variants have been reported in the United Kingdom and South Africa, while a third that was first detected in Japan is circulating in Brazil and elsewhere.
Dr. Van Kerkhove said WHO and partners have been bringing together countries, researchers and different networks, to strengthen global monitoring and assessment of the new coronavirus.
Also read: Shocking imbalance in Covid vaccine distribution: WHO
“It’s really important that that assessment is robust so we understand what each variant of interest and variant of concern means for transmission, for severity and for impacts on diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines”, she said.
COVID-19 vaccines developed so far have been effective against the variants, she added, “but we want to have a system in place should there need to be a change in some of our counter measures going forward.”
Senators to Biden: Waive vaccine intellectual property rules
Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations.
The lawmakers, in a letter delivered to the White House on Thursday evening, wrote that Biden should “prioritize people over pharmaceutical company profits” and support the temporary waiver of the rules. A waiver could pave the way for generic or other manufacturers to make more vaccines.
The letter was led by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, along with Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Raphael Warnock of Georgia also signed the letter.
“Simply put, we must make vaccines, testing, and treatments accessible everywhere if we are going to crush the virus anywhere,” the lawmakers say in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Also read: Covid-19 vaccines: Ex-leaders, Nobel laureates urge Biden to waive intellectual property rules
More than 100 nations support a temporary waiver, which could help vaccine manufacturing ramp up in poorer countries that are struggling to acquire vaccine supplies. The Biden administration has said it is studying the issue.
Opponents, including pharmaceutical companies, worry that it would set dangerous precedent in allowing scientists around the globe to copy American and European companies’ research — some of which was funded by the U.S. government — long before patents expire. The Trump administration had opposed calls for the waiver.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the lawmakers’ letter.
The lawmakers’ appeal to Biden came after a group of 170 former world leaders and Nobel laureates earlier this week sent a similar letter to Biden urging him to support a temporary waiver of the WTO’s intellectual property rules.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 3 million people worldwide, including more than 170,000 in India and more than 50,000 in South Africa, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Covid-infected Ekattor TV journalist dies
Ekattor TV Associate News Producer Rifat Sultana, who tested positive for Covid-19 a week ago, died at a city hospital Friday evening after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The 32-year-old journalist had also been suffering from pregnancy-related complications.
Parvez Reza, special correspondent of the private TV channel, confirmed the news to UNB saying: "Rifat's husband and mother-in-law also tested Covid-19 positive."
Also read: Ex-law minister Abdul Matin Khasru dies
She had to undergo a Caesarean delivery on Thursday and the newborn baby has been kept in another private hospital in the city.
The private television channel also shared the news of Rifat's death on its verified Facebook page.
Meantime, Bangladesh broke its previous records of single-day death count with 101 fatalities in 24 hours until Friday morning although the number of new cases remained below the 5,000-mark.
Also read Covid-19: Bangladesh shatters single-day fatalities record with 101 deaths
The death tally now stands at 10,182 with a mortality rate of 1.43%, the Directorate General of Health Services said.
Also, the daily infection rate climbed to 23.36% with 4,417 new cases.
South Asia fast becoming new global epicentre of Covid-19: IFRC
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said a humanitarian calamity is engulfing South Asia as Covid-19 skyrockets across several countries setting new records, with over 200,000 people getting infected everyday.
South Asia is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, said IFRC on Friday.
This deadlier and more infectious new wave is overwhelming hospitals and social systems, heaping more distress on hundreds of millions of people already experiencing poverty and hardship.
Also read: Covid-19 turns India into vaccine importer from exporter
On April 15, India recorded more than 200,700 cases in just one day, more than double the country’s previous peak and the highest of any country in the world right now.
Bangladesh is recording almost 50 percent more deaths a day than its previous peak in June 2020.
Pakistan’s daily cases are spiking, with the highest ever Covid-19 daily death rate.
Udaya Regmi, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Head of Delegation, South Asia, said the speed with which the virus is spreading in the region is truly frightening.
Over 1.5 million people are sick with Covid-19 in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan combined and that is 50 times how many were sick one month ago, said Regmi.
“Thousands of lives are being lost, this is a tragic warning to all countries, that every effort must be maintained and we cannot afford to relax in containing this deadly Coronavirus,” said IFRC South Asia head.
Also read: Global Covid-19 cases approach 139 million
“The impact on frontline workers is catastrophic. Thousands of Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers have stepped up efforts to help the elderly and those most at risk with access to lifesaving medical care, testing and vaccinations. Millions already face extreme poverty and we’re helping with food, water and other relief.”
There is growing evidence from health authorities that more virulent Covid-19 variants are fuelling this current surge in South Asia, said the IFRC.
Dr Abhishek Rimal, IFRC’s Asia Pacific Coordinator for Emergency Health, said several countries in South Asia have already reported the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants of concern from the UK and South Africa, which are more infectious and are increasing hospitalisation, putting a massive burden on the health system.
Also read: South Asia: Sharp rise in child, maternal deaths due to COVID-19-induced disruptions
“As we enter the second year dealing with the pandemic, it’s understandable that many people are sick of the restrictions and want to resume normal life. We must redouble our efforts to contain this disease as too many lives are at stake."
“We must place every effort to resource health workers and hospitals so people who are suffering receive the healthcare they need. This is a wakeup call to the world. Vaccines must be available to everyone, everywhere, rich and poor to overcome this terrible pandemic.”
South Korea suspends visas for Bangladeshis to curb Covid-19
South Korea has suspended visas for Bangladeshis as there has been an upswing in Covid-19 cases among the citizens of the South Asian nation visiting the southern half of the Korean Peninsula recently.
Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul confirmed this on Friday – the day when the ban came into effect.
Read S Korea gives 95,000 Covid-19 rapid test kits to Bangladesh
Many Bangladeshi passengers who entered South Korea have tested positive for Covid-19, said the embassy.
The withdrawal of the restriction will depend on the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh, said an embassy official.
Also read: Hopeful of starting tourist visa soon: Doraiswami
Day workers leaving India's Mumbai as virus dries up jobs
Migrant workers are piling into rail stations in India’s financial capital Mumbai to head back to their home villages now that virus-control measures have dried up work in the hard-hit region.
“What do I do now?” asked Ramzan Ali, who’d been earning up to 500 rupees ($7) per day as a laborer but has been out of work for two weeks.
He arrived at Kurla railroad station on Friday morning and joined a long line to buy a ticket to board a train for Balrampur, his village in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Ali, 47, hopes to find some work in the village to feed his wife and four children.
The government of Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, imposed lockdown-like curbs on Wednesday for 15 days to check the spread of the virus. It closed most industries, businesses and public places and limited the movement of people, but didn’t stop bus, train and air services.
Also read: Mumbai imposes strict virus restrictions as infections surge
An exodus ensued, with panicked day laborers hauling backpacks onto overcrowded trains leaving Mumbai. The migration is raising fears of the virus spreading in rural areas.
Maharashtra has been the center of the nation’s recent record surge in new infections. On Friday, India recorded another high of 217,353 new cases in the past 24 hours, pushing its total since the pandemic began past 14.2 million. The Health Ministry also reported 1,185 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising deaths to 174,308.
The rush among migrant workers was not as desperate as last year when Indian Railways suspended all passenger train services during a strict and sudden nationwide lockdown. That forced tens of thousands of impoverished workers to walk or ride trucks and buses in soaring heat as they tried to return home.
Also, northern states like Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi and western Rajasthan state haven’t seen large-scale movement of migrant workers yet because it’s the harvesting season. Big farms have hired workers to harvest wheat and other crops and prepare for sowing new crops.
Mohammad Aslam, 24, is a tailor in Mumbai but said he has been sitting idle for 18 days. He was in line to board a train with relatives and others heading to the town of Muzzaffaarpur in eastern Bihar state.
“My extended family has a farm there and I can earn some money by working there,” he said.
Shiva Sanjeev, 27, was desperate to get on to a train because his 70-year-old grandfather is seriously ill in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh state.
“I am getting frantic calls from my parents and other family members to get back to my hometown,” he said.
Coronavirus claims eight more lives in Chattogram
Eight more people have died of complications from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours in Chattogram, health officials said on Friday.
Besides, 305 more people have been diagnosed with Covid-19, taking the overall cases to 46,380 in Chattogram.
With the fresh deaths, 445 people have so far died from the deadly virus, said the Civil Surgeon’s office.
Also read:Covid-19 vaccine not a 'silver bullet': WHO
Situation across the country
Bangladesh’s coronavirus fatalities surged past 10,000 mark on Thursday, nearly 13 months after the first death from the virus was reported.
With 94 deaths, two less than Wednesday's, the death tally rose to 10,081. The mortality rate went up to 1.43 percent from 1.42 percent, according to government data.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death was announced 10 days later.
Health authorities announced 4,192 new cases in a 24-hour period till Friday morning, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh’s daily infection rate rose to 21 percent, up from 20.89 percent on Wednesday.
Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Covid-19 Vaccine
Also read:No risk of contracting Covid-19 due to vaccination: DGHS
The government launched a vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.
Experts are calling for ramping up the drive and urging people to follow the health guidelines to keep themselves and others around them safe.
On April 8, Bangladesh began its second phase of inoculation amid uncertainty over vaccine availability.