coronavirus pandemic
Coronavirus: Bangladesh reports highest 4,019 cases in 24 hrs, 38 more die
Bangladesh on Thursday saw the highest-ever spike in coronavirus cases in a single day as 4,019 more people were diagnosed with the virus in a span of 24 hours.
Coronavirus: Global death tally crosses 515,542
The global death toll from coronavirus infections stood at 515,542 on Thursday morning while the confirmed cases crossed 10,664,433, according to the Centre for System Science and Engineering of Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The JHU data shows Brazil as the second most infected country after the US with 1,448, 753 coronavirus cases and 60,632 deaths as of Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, India has occupied the fourth position after Russia with 585,493 confirmed Covid-19 cases. The country has so far reported 17,400 deaths.
Russia counted the third highest Covid-19 cases- 653,479, after the US and Brazil till date.
DU steps into 100th year: A moment of big pride
Dhaka University (DU), the country’s oldest university, stepped into its 100th year on Wednesday but it preferred holding low-key programmes to celebrate the big moment due to coronavirus pandemic.
152 Bangladeshi nationals return home from the UAE
A special flight of US-Bangla Airlines brought back152 Bangladeshi nationals stranded in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
Coronavirus: Global death toll climbs to 509,779
As the coronavirus situation continues to worsen, the global death toll from the virus infection stood at 509,779 on Wednesday morning while the confirmed cases crossed 10,434,835, according to the Centre for System Science and Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The JHU data shows Brazil as the second most infected country after the US with 1,402,041 coronavirus cases and 59,594 deaths as of Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, India has grabbed the fourth position after Russia with 566,840 confirmed Covid-19 cases. The country has so far reported 16,893 deaths.
Russia counted the third highest Covid-19 cases- 646,929, after the US and Brazil till date.
Among the countries, the US has been the worst-hit one with the highest recorded deaths of 127,322 patients and about 2,629,372 confirmed cases.
In the US, New York State alone counted 32,032 deaths till date.
The UK has the third-highest death toll of 43,815, followed by Italy with 34,767, France 29,846 and Spain 28,355, according to the JHU data.
Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December last year.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic on March 11.
Situation in Bangladesh
According to JHU, Bangladesh has come up to 18th position with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases it reported on Wednesday.
Bangladesh confirmed its first confirmed cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 but it has been seeing a sharp rise in both new cases and deaths in recent weeks.
The country's health authorities have recoded the highest coronavirus death in a single day as 64 people died of the deadly virus in 24 hours till Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 1,847.
COVID-19: BDRCS supports urban poor
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) has distributed cash assistance to vulnerable urban communities located in Dhaka South City Corporation with support of German Red Cross.
40pc corona beds still vacant: Health Minister
Mentioning that some 14,000 beds have been designated for Covid patients in the country’s hospitals, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said 40 percent of those are still vacant.
Covid-19 pandemic ‘not even close to being over’: WHO chief
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned nearly six months after the new coronavirus first emerged, that the Covid-19 pandemic is ‘not even close to being over.’
Speaking on the eve of the grim milestone, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday called for renewed global commitment to save lives as cases surpass 10 million worldwide, with 500,000 deaths, as the virus continues to spread, reports UN News.
“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is: this is not even close to being over”, he told journalists.
Agriculture in the spotlight in Covid-hit Bangladesh
Although the coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh has halted almost all economic activities and disrupted the supply chain, the agriculture sector continued playing a key role in saving the lives and livelihoods of people.
Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia get flight permission
After remaining shut for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) on Sunday permitted Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia to operate their flights in Dhaka from July 1.
Two more are waiting the authority’s nod, Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Mafidur Rahman told UNB.
“We have permitted Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia to transport passengers but Turkish Airlines will start flight from July 2 or 3 and Air Arabia from July 1,” he said.
“Besides, Malaysia and Malindo Air also applied for direct flights to Bangladesh. We may primarily give them transit permits but the decision is yet to be taken,” he added.
Earlier on June 21, Emirates was allowed to fly primarily three flights per week on the Dubai-Dhaka route and Qatar Airways got the approval from June 16, the Chairman said.
Emirates will transport passengers only on Dhaka-Dubai route as the entry of Bangladeshi citizens is currently blocked in UAE due to coronavirus pandemic, he said adding that but UAE nationals will be able to travel here.
“Although Bangladeshis are restricted to enter Doha and UAE but they can travel to other countries using transit flight,” he said adding that applications seeking entry permission of Bangladeshi citizens to Doha and UAE have been sent to their aviation authorities.
“We’ll consider the applications of airlines who would apply to operate flights in the country as the international flights have resumed since June 16 following health regulations at limited scale,” Rahman said.
Sources at CAAB said Emirates is operating flights every Saturday, Monday and Thursday from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
EK584 flight will come from Dubai to Dhaka on Saturday, Monday and Thursday while EK584 flight will leave Dhaka for Dubai on those respective days, sources said.
Meanwhile, Biman Bangladesh Airline Managing Director and CEO Mokabbir Hossain said a single flight of Biman is flying on Dhaka-London-Dhaka route on Sundays every week.
The Biman flights are ready to travel to other routes after getting permission, he said.
CAAB Authorities allowed Biman to operate on Dhaka-London route from June 16 while Qatar Airways was only permitted for transit flight, he added.
On June 1, Civil Aviation authority permitted operation of all domestic flights maintaining social distancing and following health guidelines.
Airlines to count $84bn loss
On June 9, the IATA released a financial outlook for the global air transport industry showing that airlines are expected to lose $84.3 billion this year.
Revenues will fall 50 percent to $419 billion from $838 billion in 2019, IATA says.
In 2021, losses are expected to be cut to $15.8 billion as revenues rise to $598 billion.
“Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation,” IATA said in its report.
On average, every day of this year will add $230 million to industry losses. In total that’s a loss of $84.3 billion, IATA said.
“Based on an estimate of 2.2 billion passengers this year — airlines will lose $37.54 per passenger,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.