Covid-19 in Bangladesh
Covid’s daily death toll in Bangladesh falls to 50
Bangladesh recorded 50 more deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours until Wednesday morning, showing a marked fall in the fatality rate.
With the new death figure, the mortality from the Coronavirus rose to 11,755, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The number of Covid deaths came down to 50 after over a month as the country saw 50 deaths on April 1 and it had kept rising since then.
Health authorities recorded 1,742 new cases during the period.
The latest figure pushed up the caseload to 7,67,338.
However, the infection rate fell to 8.59 percent from Tuesday’s 8.71 percent while the fatality rate remained static at 1.53 percent.
The body count soared to over 100 during April 16-19 and on April 25 but the daily fatalities have been falling gradually since then.
In the last 24 hours, 427 labs across the country tested 20,284 samples.
Among the recent deaths, 32 were men while 18 were women.
Besides 3,433 patients recovered from Covid-19 during the last 24 hours, putting the recovery rate at 91.02%.
Also Read: Serum to return money if fails to provide vaccine: Finance Minister
Vaccination Drive
Bangladesh kicked off its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26, and no one in the country has received the second dose in the last 48 hours.
However, DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccines by early May.
In the last 24 hours, 38 people have received the first dose and 83,540 have received the second dose of Covid vaccine, a figure which is exactly the same of yesterday, according to the DGHS handout.
So far, a total of 72,48,829 people received vaccines where 31,06709 people managed to complete their second dose.
Also Read: Covid vaccine stock running out: DGHS
Vaccine stock dwindling
The DGHS on Wednesday said the stock of the Covid-19 vaccine is running out in Bangladesh as there are only 14 lakh jabs in government hands with no sign in sight to get a fresh consignment of it from India.
Speaking at a virtual press briefing, DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin said, “We had around one crore and two lakh vaccines in our hands…around 88 lakh jabs have already been administered as the first and second doses. Now we’ve some 14 lakh doses in stock.”
He said there will be a vaccine crisis if a fresh consignment does not arrive in the country before the existing stock is exhausted.
Also Read: New variant may be behind Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts
Drive intensified to get vaccines from US
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said the government has intensified its efforts to have vaccine jabs from the United States (US) as it will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with other countries.
Lockdown extended
The government has issued a notification extending the ongoing lockdown until May 16 with six fresh directives alongside the existing ones to contain the spread of Covid-19.
According to the notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the officials of all government, semi-government autonomous and private organisations, banks and financial institutions have been asked to remain at their respective workstations during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
Shops and shopping malls will remain open from 10 am to 8 pm maintaining health guidelines. If any kind of deviation and violation are seen, the shopping malls and shops will be closed instantly, says the notification.
Inter-district transport services will remain closed while only intra-district transport services will operate ensuring health guidelines from Thursday.
However, launch and train services will remain off.
Extended lockdown extends daily bottlenecks for commuters
Bangladesh has entered the third week of lockdown in its effort to put a leash on the surge of Covid-19's second wave.
The deadliest month of pandemic, April, has just passed recording 21% of the total deaths since the outbreak last year.
The onslaught hasn’t stopped yet, as 61 more deaths were logged today.
With the lockdown imposed and extended, all the public transport services remained restricted across the city.
Distressed by the decision, Dhaka dwellers were seen resorting to sharing autorickshaw fares with other passengers, even more than usual, to reach their destination.
However this situation brought the drivers an opportunity to demand extra fares from the passengers.
A UNB photographer has captured these photos of troubled passengers defying health rules, from city’s Notun Bazar, Nodda area today.
No change in Khaleda’s health condition: Doctor
The health condition of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has remained unchanged at the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Evercare Hospital in the capital, her medical board member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said on Tuesday night.
“Madam’s (Khaleda’s) condition is the same as it was yesterday (Monday), and her treatment is going on,” he told reporters after visiting the BNP chief at the hospital.
Zahid said the 10-member medical board, formed to ensure the treatment of Khaleda, reviewed all the reports of her tests done on Monday and Tuesday morning.
He said the medical board also examined the BNP chief’s tests as she complained of breathing difficulties on Monday. “They made some adjustments of medicines and she’s been undergoing treatment as per their suggestions.”
Zahid urged people to pray for the speedy recovery of Khaleda.
Also read: Khaleda shifted to CCU with breathing problem: Doctor
Earlier in the day, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a virtual discussion said Khaleda moved to the CCU of the Evercare Hospital on Monday due to her shortness of breath.
“She’s still in the CCU and being given oxygen. Her condition is now stable,” he said.
Fakhrul said doctors are hopeful that Khaleda will recover soon and urged all to pray for her speedy recovery.
Khaleda Zia was shifted to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of the hospital with shortness of breathing around 4pm on Monday. Her breathing problem later eased.
Also read: 10-member medical board formed for Khaleda's treatment
Khaleda, tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time on April 24, was admitted to the Evercare Hospital on April 27 for a thorough health checkup.
On April 28, a 10-member medical board, headed by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder, was formed for the treatment of Khaleda at the Evercare Hospital a day after her admission there.
Khaleda Zia tested positive for Covid-19 on April 10 as eight people at her residence were infected with the virus. She underwent the second Covid-19 test on April 24 and her report was positive.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.
She was released from the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) the same day, and she has been staying at her Gulshan house since then.
Also read: Khaleda Zia infected with Covid-19
On August 27 last year, the government extended her release for six more months and it was extended again for six months on March 15 last.
On February 8, 2018, Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The High Court later doubled her jail term.
Khaleda was found guilty in another corruption case the same year. Her party claims both the cases are politically motivated.
No specific allocation for low-income people, bemoans BNP
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said though the lowly-paid workers and day-labourers have been the worst victims of the pandemic, the government has not yet made any specific allocation for them.
Speaking at a virtual discussion, he also alleged that pro-ruling party people are mainly taking benefits of the stimulus packages announced by the government for the pandemic victims.
“We’ve repeatedly said the government should help mainly those who live from hand to mouth and those who work in the informal and SME sectors during the corona period. Our poor brothers and sisters have been suffering most since the outbreak of the pandemic, but there’s no allocation for them in the packages announced by the government. There’s no specific allocation for them,” Fakhrul said.
He said their party proposed providing each affected worker with a one-time incentive of at least Tk 15,000 for three months, but the government did not pay heed to it. "Government officials and the cohorts of Awami League are taking away all the incentives that have been announced for owners.”
Also read: Govt doing business in Covid’s name: BNP
Jatityatabadi Sramik Dal, the workers’ wing of BNP, arranged the virtual programme marking its 42nd founding anniversary and historic May Day.
Fakhrul criticised the government for extending the lockdown without taking any step to mitigate the sufferings of the poor, workers and the day-labourers.
“The government has enforced the lockdown without taking any step for easing the sufferings of the day-labourers and other lowly-paid workers and the poor. They did it to make their political gains by carrying out crackdowns in the name of the lockdown.”
The BNP leader said the government has been arresting the leaders and activists of different Islamic and student organisations taking advantage of the lockdown. “They (govt) are arresting those who speak against them. The entire nation has become hostage to them.”
He urged the young generation and the workers to get united and play a leading role in a movement for establishing a pro-people government and people’s basic rights.
Also read: Engaging single organisation in buying vaccines a ‘suicidal’ move: BNP
Khaleda’s condition
About the health condition of their party chairperson Khaleda Zia, Fakhrul said she was moved to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of the Evercare Hospital on Monday due to the shortness of breath.
“She’s is still in the CCU, and she’s being given oxygen. Her condition is now stable,” he said.
Fakhrul said doctors are hopeful that Khaleda will recover soon. He urged all to pray for her speedy recovery.
Khaleda, tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time on April 24, was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27 for a thorough health checkup.
On April 28, a 10-member medical board, headed by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder, was formed for the treatment of Khaleda at the Evercare Hospital a day after her admission there.
Khaleda Zia tested positive for Covid-19 on April 10 as eight people at her residence were infected with the virus. She underwent the second Covid-19 test on April 24 and her report was positive.
Covid claims 61 more lives, infects 1,914 others in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 61 more coronavirus-related deaths and 1,914 new cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, showing a slight downtrend in daily fatalities and an uptick in infections.
The latest figures pushed up the death toll to 11,705 and the caseload to 7,65,596, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, the infection rate fell to 8.71 percent from Monday’s 8.95 percent while the fatality rate rose to 1.53 percent.
Bangladesh has recorded less than 70 virus related deaths since Friday. The body count soared to over 100 during April 16-19 and on April 25 but since then the daily fatalities have been falling gradually.
Bangladesh has so far tested 55,40,394 samples, 21,984 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS handout data, provided this morning.
There has been a steady decline in tests between April 28 and May 2, leading to fewer case counts. New cases declined between April 26 (3,306) and May 2 (1,359) before an upward curve in the next two following days.
So far, 90.78 percent of the total patients (6,95,032) have recovered, including 3,870 new ones. The recovery number has been on the wane between April 28 and May 2 and picked up again from Monday.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Around 21 pc of total deaths reported in April alone
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year, before confirming the first death 10 days later.
21% of total deaths in April
April has been the worst month for Bangladesh with 2,404 fatalities, accounting for 20.99 percent of the total death toll, and 147,837 new cases, according to DGHS.
In Bangladesh, 568 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in January, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division saw most of the deaths – 6,812 or 58.20 percent – of the total fatalities.
Twenty-eight of the 61 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 18 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown continues till May 16
The ongoing lockdown imposed on April 5 has been extended until May 16 but people are hardly following health safety rules.
Also read: Lockdown to continue until May 16, intra-district public transport services from May 6
They are still crowding shopping malls and markets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims. Photos and videos shot by UNB correspondents show overcrowded shopping places and total indifference towards health guidelines.
There will hardly be any positive outcome if the people don’t follow health rules to protect themselves and others around them from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, intra-district public transport services will be allowed to resume from May 6.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh kicked off its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose was announced of remaining suspended from April 26.
Also read: Vaccines to be procured at any expense, says PM Hasina
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam had assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
In the last 24 hours, 38 people have received the first dose and 83,540 have received the second dose of Covid vaccine, said the DGHS handout.
The registration process for receiving the vaccine jab remains shut.
Vaccine production
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on April 28 approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on April 29 approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, a day after approving the emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine of Russia.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said the Chinese government is working to start delivering Covid-19 vaccine doses before Eid-ul-Fitr although a 5-day May Day holiday is underway in China.
Also read: Dhaka hopeful of getting vaccine doses from China before Eid
Meanwhile Health Minister Zahid Maleque shared a more specific date – May 10.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharma and Health Care Pharma have the capacity of producing vaccines, and the Chinese vaccine could be produced locally, Director General of DGDA Mahbubur Rahman told reporters.
On April 28, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division noted that the government will purchase vaccine technology from Russian and China through direct procurement method (DPM).
Covid-19: Bangladesh records more 65 deaths, 1,739 new cases
Bangladesh reported 65 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours until Monday morning, raising the death toll to 11,644 as the country’s grim battle with virus continues.
The health authorities recorded 1,739 new infections after examining 13,431 samples, according to data available at corona.gov.bd. A handout from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) put the number of tests at 19,431 including antigen tests.
Bangladesh has so far tested 55,18,410 samples, according to the health directorate.
There has been a steady decline in the number of tests since April 28 when 28,206 samples were tested. With a fall in tests, the number of new cases too went down gradually from April 26 (3,306) to May 2 (1,359) before a slightly upward curve.
Also read: Lockdown to continue until May 16, intra-district public transport services from May 6
Monday’s daily infection rate slipped to 8.95 percent from Sunday’s 9.6 percent but the mortality rate remained static at 1.52 percent.
Bangladesh has recorded less than 70 virus related deaths since Friday. The body count soared to over 100 during April 16-19 and on April 25 but since then the daily fatalities have been falling gradually.
With the latest figure, 7,63,682 cases have been recorded in the country so far, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout. This puts Bangladesh at 33rd in the list of countries with highest cases, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.
The number of recoveries now stands at 6,91,162 including 3,834 new one. Recoveries were on the wane since April 28 before jumping on Monday. So far, 90.50 percent patients have recovered.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020, and the first death on March 18 that year.
21% of total deaths in April
Covid-19 claimed 2,404 lives in April alone, the deadliest month for the country since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.
Of all coronavirus-related deaths reported until the end of last month, April alone recorded 20.99 percent fatalities.
In the last month, 147,837 new cases were officially registered, according to DGHS.
In Bangladesh, 568 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in January, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,784 or 58.26 percent.
Thirty-two of the 65 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 17 from Chattogram division.
Also read: Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts say lockdown likely to pay off
Lockdown continues till May 16
The ongoing lockdown imposed on April 5 has been extended until May 16 but people are hardly following health safety rules.
They are still crowding shopping malls and markets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival of the Muslims. Photos and videos shot by UNB correspondents show overcrowded shopping places and total indifference towards health guidelines.
There will hardly be any positive outcome if the people don’t follow health rules to protect themselves and others around them from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, intra-district public transport services will be allowed to resume from May 6.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh kicked off its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose was announced of remaining suspended from April 26.
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam had assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
In the last 24 hours, 53 people have received the first dose and 1, 30,547 have received the second dose of Covid vaccine, said the DGHS handout.
However, the registration process for receiving the vaccine jab remains shut.
Vaccine production
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on April 28 approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on April 29 approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, a day after approving the emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine of Russia.
“We’ll get 5 lakh doses of the Chinese vaccine as gift within 7-10 days. Then we’ll start distribution. Then the government will start buying those on G2G basis,” Mahbubur Rahman, Director General of DGDA told reporters.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharma and Health Care Pharma have the capacity of producing vaccines, and the Chinese vaccine could be produced locally, Mahbubur Rahman said.
On April 28, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division noted that the government will purchase vaccine technology from Russian and China through direct procurement method (DPM).
COVID-19: Bidyanondo stands beside transgender community with foods
Although the ongoing second wave of the global pandemic of COVID-19 has put a halt to the livelihoods of many communities, Bidyanondo Foundation, known for taking initiatives to serve the marginalised people in the country, stood beside the transgender community through its latest relief initiative in the capital.
The humanitarian organization distributed food packages to a number of people from the marginalised community in Savar on Sunday.
Earlier, it served transgender people food items across different areas in the capital including Vatara, Merul Badda, TSC area of Dhaka University, Mugda and other places on Friday.
Bidyanondo informed UNB that the distribution was initiated upon the request of social activist, media personality and country's first-ever transgender news anchor Tashnuva Anan.
8,873 general, 565 ICU beds available for Covid patients
While the country witnesses a continuous upsurge in coronavirus cases, 8,873 general and 565 ICU beds are available across the eight divisions for Covid-19 patients.
Health Ministry on Sunday said in a press release that as many Covid patients have left the hospital after recovery, these beds are now unoccupied.
From the data provided by the hospitals in eight districts, the total Covid-dedicated number of beds in the country is now 12,347 and the number of ICU beds is 1,092.
Also read: DNCC Market Hospital to get 200 new ICU beds: Health Minister
In hospitals of Dhaka city, 3,799, beds are unoccupied of the 5,626 general beds.
Of the total 773 ICU beds, 420 are available now in the city.
Country’s recovery rate 90%
So far, 687,328 people have recovered, including 2,657 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS.
Also read: Covid-19 surge lays bare another crisis: Scant ICU beds and specialists
This projects a 90.21 percent recovery among the patients.
68% of businesses yet to receive any stimulus: SANEM
Insufficient allocation, lengthy procedure, difficulty in bank-related services, and lack of information about the procedure left 68% of businesses unable to avail the government's stimulus package, the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (Sanem) said Sunday.
However, effective implementation of the stimulus package is critically important and assessment is urgently required on the package implemented so far. The packages need to be redesigned and expanded amid the current wave of Covid-19, they said.
The government should undertake a sectoral approach to gauge the needs and identify the necessary policy measures for the worst affected industries such as leather and tannery, light engineering, transport, retails, restaurants, food processing, they added.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be a priority in channelling the loans and stimulus packages. Also, effective implementation of the stimulus package is critically important. An assessment is urgently required on the stimulus package implemented so far, the experts suggested.
Also read: SANEM finds 70% wage-earners in 4 dists. worse off in a year
The observations came up at the webinar "Covid-19 and business confidence in Bangladesh: Findings from the 4th round of a nationwide firm-level survey."
Sanem, in collaboration with Asia Foundation, initiated the quarterly Business Confidence Survey in July 2020.
The third round of the survey was conducted in January and the fourth round in April 2021, which covered 253 firms from the manufacturing sector and 250 from the services sector.
"The sectors that need priority are light engineering, transport, retail, and leather and tannery as their recovery rate is slow. The stimulus packages are having positive impacts on the firms' recovery," Sanem Executive Director Selim Raihan said.
Also read: SANEM survey: Population below poverty line doubled, extreme poor trebled in 2020
"The firms, on average, have been able to recover 57% of their damages occurred during this pandemic (March 2020 -March 2021), according to the survey. It shows the firms have not got back to the pre-pandemic situation, and it might take a while for them to be able to do so."
Selim said the business confidence for April-June 2021 deteriorated compared to the one during January-March 2021; posing a threat to future businesses.
The survey also found that the majority of the stimulus package recipient firms were from the manufacturing sector – 82.7% of all firms.
Amongst the industrial sectors, 58% of the RMG firms received the stimulus package, whereas this rate is 40% for the textile and 30% for the leather industry. Also, it was the large firms who had greater access to the stimulus package: 46% of the surveyed large firms received the stimulus package in contrast to 30% medium firms and 9% small firms.
Also read: Almost three quarters of firms yet to receive stimulus: SANEM
Former lead economist of the World Bank Dhaka Zahid Hussain said recovery across the economy has been experienced to some extent; however, it has not been uniform across all sectors.
"Time and again, it has been evident that large firms are at an advantage compared to micro and small firms. Large firms often have more influence and power, leading to better bargaining power and hence, giving them better access to stimulus packages," he added.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Rizwan Rahman said the central bank and monetary institutions must formulate strict guidelines for the banking sector to ensure that loans are disbursed to small and micro-enterprises.
Intensify efforts to procure vaccines for alternative sources: BNP
Voicing concerns over the suspension of administering the first dose of Covid vaccine in Bangladesh, the BNP standing committee has urged the government to intensify its efforts for collecting the jabs from alternative sources.
“Our standing committee is worried over the vaccine crisis and the suspension of the vaccination programme. The government couldn’t collect the necessary vaccine doses due to its irresponsibility and incompetence,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Sunday.
Speaking at a virtual press conference on the outcomes of BNP standing committee’s meeting held on Saturday, he said the government has also failed to take the right decision on the vaccine import as it has become “isolated from people”.
Also read: Govt doing business in Covid’s name: BNP
“Corruption is the main reason behind such a vaccine crisis. They’ve taken a wrong decision on procuring the vaccine from a single source in India through a corrupt company owned by a leader of their party,” the BNP leader observed.
Fakhrul said their party and the country’s health experts had warned the government of the consequences of procuring the vaccine from a single source, but it did not change its stance.
“They (govt) didn’t look for an alternative source of the corona vaccine as it always thinks of benefits of its leaders, not people…the government is running the country with some mafias and the mafias are playing the important role in making decisions and running the country,” he alleged.
Also read: Engaging single organisation in buying vaccines a ‘suicidal’ move: BNP
The BNP leader said there is no alternative to installing a pro-people government through a credible election under a non-party administration to get rid of the current situation of the country.
He said the Serum Institute of India has violated the agreement on providing three crores of vaccine to Bangladesh by stopping the supply after only giving 70 lakh jabs, but the government did not raise voice against it.
Fakhrul said their standing committee urged the government to take necessary steps for increasing oxygen production in the country alongside immediately procuring the vaccine from alternative sources.