Covid-19 in Bangladesh
Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts say lockdown likely to pay off
Experts think that the ongoing lockdown in Bangladesh appears to be paying off as both the active coronavirus cases and death toll have marked a sharp fall over the last few days in the country.
They, however, fear that the benefits might be short-lived ones as the government has allowed shopping malls to reopen and is thinking of resuming public transport services soon though the virus is yet to come under control.
The analysts warned that the Covid situation is likely to worsen again with the hordes of shoppers and holidaymakers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the largest religious festivals of Muslims to be celebrated in the middle of this month.
They advised the government to announce a stimulus package for the transport workers instead of resuming transport service, enforce the law to make people to wear masks and maintain health safety rules and increase vigilance along the border to check any possible trespassing or illegal entry to Bangladesh from India to maintain the improved trend in the Covid situation.
The government imposed a complete countrywide lockdown on April 14 for a week to tackle the worsening Covid situation, and later it was extended up to May 5. But the government gave permission for reopening shops and malls across the country from April 25 amid lockdown.
Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Saturday the government is considering the resumption of public transport services in the country ahead of Eid.
Bangladesh’s health authorities reported 69 more deaths and 1,359 new cases in 24 hours until Sunday morning.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 69 more deaths, 1,359 new cases
The virus infection rate that increased to 23 percent early last month has now dropped to 9.60 percent on Sunday.
Lockdown proves to be effective
Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) of the DGHS, said the fall in the number of Covid cases and deaths has manifested that the ongoing lockdown has proved to be good.
“As the offices and mass transport service remains shut, people’s movement has declined, contributing to reducing the virus transmission,” he said
Bail, Ad-interim orders extended for 4 weeks: HC
Bail and all High Court ad-interim orders have been extended for the next four weeks, considering the lockdown and ongoing Covid situation.
Registrar general of the Supreme Court Md Ali Akbar issued a notice in this regard on Sunday.
The notice says the four week-extension will be effective on cases the High Court granted bail to the accused for a specific period or granted bail on condition of surrendering to a lower court or declared ad-interim order for a period.
On April 5 and April 18, through two different notices the Supreme Court has extended all ad-interim bails and orders for two weeks, twice.
On April 11, the Supreme Court declared on a notice that, from April 12 all the court and tribunals will be conducted virtually to settle all the bail and emergency criminal applications.
Very difficult to understand Corona: Quader
Roads and Bridges Minister and Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said that the dream project Padma Bridge will be opened for traffic movement in June 2022.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Quader said this at an exchange meeting with officials of Sylhet Zone, BRTC and BRTA this morning while he virtually joined the meeting from his official residence.
The work of the entire bridge structure has been completed with the installation of the latest girder of the viaduct at the Mawa end of the Padma Bridge yesterday, he informed.
Stating that the progress of the construction work of the main bridge has been 93.2% so far, the bridge minister said that the progress of river governance work is 63% while the overall progress of the project is 85.5%.
Earlier, the Bridges Division sought the extension in February this year as the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted project progress.
Also read: ‘Godspeed Bangladesh’: ICCB on Padma Bridge
The Bridges Division sent the proposal for the time extension to the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Planning Commission (PC) on February 2.
However, the Bridges Division informed the minister again that bridges can be opened for traffic by June 2022 despite the appeal for deadline extension until June 2023.
Obaidul Quader said, "It is very difficult to understand the character of Corona. There is no alternative to wearing mask and following health guidelines. We have to pay more attention to strict hygiene."
Quader also said the situation in India today is people are dying before going to the hospital, crying for a bed and oxygen, their crematorium and graveyard are unable to afford the corpse.
"We must now be extremely vigilant against the alarming message of infection and death rates in neighboring India, " he warned.
Also read: Padma Bridge, Metro Rail opening to public within June 2022: Quader
Stating that there is no reason to worry about the vaccine, the second man of the ruling party said that when a humanitarian leader like Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina i, this difficult time will end one day.
Regarding the Dhaka-Sylhet and SylhetRoad and bridge minister Obaidul Quader said the Padma Bridge will be opened to traffic in June 2022.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said this at an exchange meeting with officials of Sylhet Zone, BRTC and BRTA this morning.
The Minister virtually joined the meeting from his official residence.
The work of the entire bridge structure has been completed with the installation of the latest girder of the viaduct at the Mawa end of the Padma Bridge yesterday!
Stating that the progress of the construction work of the main bridge has been 93.2% so far, the bridge minister said that the progress of river governance work is 63% and the overall progress of the project is 85.5%.
Also read: Padma Bridge: An impressive mega project gets close to completion
Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the Awami League, said, "It is very difficult to understand Corona. There is no alternative to hygiene and wearing mask. We have to pay more attention to strict hygiene."
Obaidul Quader said what is the situation in India today, people are dying before going to the hospital, crying for a bed and oxygen, their crematorium and graveyard can not be found.Therefore, the Minister said, we must now be extremely vigilant against the alarming message of infection and death rates in neighboring India.
Stating that there is no reason to worry about the vaccine, Obaidul Quader said that this difficult time will end one day as a humanitarian leader like Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working relentlessly.
Regarding the Dhaka-Sylhet and Sylhet-Tamabil highway projects, the Minister for Road Transport and Bridges said that it is one of the priority projects at the moment, so more importance should be given to upgrade the road to four lanes.
PM donates Tk 10cr for Covid-hit homeless people
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday provided Tk 10 crore to two separate funds for helping Covid-hit people and the rehabilitation of landless and homeless people.
She provided the financial assistance from Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust.
Of the amount, Tk 5 crore was given to the assistance fund for the Corona-hit prople, while another Tk 5 crore to Ashrayan Project for the rehabilitation of landless and homeless people.
The Prime Minister has provided Tk 10 crore at her personal initiative, said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.
Sheikh Hasina urged the affluent section of society to come forward in aid of the poor and destitute.
Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 69 more deaths, 1,359 new cases
The health authorities reported 69 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours until Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 11,569, as Bangladesh grapples to tackle the second wave of the pandemic.
Besides, 1,359 new cases were detected after examining 14,158 samples, the lowest number of tests since April 18, according to government data.
The health authorities have so far tested 5,498,979 samples. There has been a steady decline in the number of tests since April 28. New cases have been on the wane since April 26 but fell dramatically since April 28, data available on corona.gov.bd show.
However, the daily infection rate fell to 9.6 percent from Saturday’s 9.61 percent while the fatality rate rose to 1.52 percent from 1.51 percent a day before, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the new cases, the country’s total Covid-19 caseload now stands at 761,943, the DGHS handout said.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 that year.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 77 deaths, new cases 2,955
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Around 21 pc of total deaths reported in April alone
Covid-19 claimed 2,404 lives in April alone in Bangladesh, the cruellest month for the country since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.
Of the total 11,450 coronavirus-related deaths reported until April 30, 2,404 or 20.99 percent alone were recorded in the previous month.
During the last one month, 147,837 infections were officially registered, according to the handout of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
As the virus continues its onslaught, 568 people lost their lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,714 or 58.33%.
According to the DGHS handout, Bangladesh broke all previous records of Covid-19 deaths registering 112 fatalities in a 24-hour period on April 19.
On April 7, the country recorded its highest single-day cases of 7,626. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
The country is passing through a ‘strict’ lockdown since April 14 but people are still indifferent towards health guidelines and safety rules.
Also read: FM to join China-led virtual meeting on vaccine cooperation
The government later extend the ongoing lockdown till May 5.
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh
The death toll from Covid-19 hit 11,510 in Bangladesh on Saturday as the country logged 60 more fatalities in 24 hours until Saturday morning, as all efforts to stop the pandemic have apparently gone in vain.
However, the country reported new cases of 1,452 during the 24-hour period ending at 8am, which was said to the lowest daily count in 48 days.
The overall infection tally reached 760,584 with the new cases and the positivity rate fell to 9.61% from Friday's 10.34%. But the death rate remained unchanged at 1.51%, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country's infection rate came down below 10% on Thursday after over a month, as it reported a 7.68% infection rate on March 17 and it rose to 10.45% the following day. Since then, the infection rate began an upward march.
Also read: Bangladesh approves local production of Russian, Chinese Covid vaccines
Bangladesh on Friday reported its single-day Covid-19 death toll of 57, the lowest in 25 days.
According to the DGHS, 684,671 infected people have recovered from the disease so far and 3,245 of them in the past 24 hours.
60 more die in Bangladesh as Covid continues its onslaught
The death toll from Covid-19 hit 11,510 in Bangladesh on Saturday as the country logged 60 more fatalities in 24 hours until Saturday morning, as all efforts to stop the pandemic have apparently gone in vain.
However, the country reported new cases of 1,452 during the 24-hour period ending at 8am, which was said to the lowest daily count in 48 days.
The overall infection tally reached 760,584 with the new cases and the positivity rate fell to 9.61% from Friday's 10.34%. But the death rate remained unchanged at 1.51%, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On March 14, Bangladesh reported 1,159 cases in 24 hours. The country's infection rate came down below 10% on Thursday after over a month, as it reported a 7.68% infection rate on March 17 and it rose to 10.45% the following day. Since then, the infection rate began an upward march.
Bangladesh on Friday reported its single-day Covid-19 death toll of 57, the lowest in 25 days.
According to the DGHS, 684,671 infected people have recovered from the disease so far and 3,245 of them in the past 24 hours.
The country conducted 15,117 new tests over the same period, which was 21,046 on Friday.
Bangladesh has so far carried out 548,4821 nationwide tests since reporting its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year the first death on the 18th of that month.
The country recorded 52 coronavirus-related deaths on April 5, 78 on April 27, and 77 on April 28, showing a downtrend. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
Also read: Global Covid-19 cases top 151 million
April remains cruel
April still remains to be the cruel month for Bangladesh since the outbreak of the pandemic last year as 147,837 cases of infections and over 2,404 deaths were officially registered.
As the virus continues its onslaught, 568 people lost their lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,714 or 58.33%.
Twenty-eight of the 60 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 19 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown to continue until May 5
Given the surge in new infections and deaths from the virus, the government enforced a nationwide lockdown in early April. Having failed to contain the current surge, the government imposed a strict lockdown on April 11 and then extended it up to April 28.
Also read: Bangladesh extends lockdown until May 5
On Wednesday, the government issued a circular extending the lockdown up to May 5, as there is no improvement in a spike in Covid-19 infections.
May Day to be celebrated Saturday
The historic May Day will be observed on Saturday as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic which has rendered millions of workers jobless across the world in recent months.
In normal times, the day is a public holiday in Bangladesh and marked with a slew of events. But there will be no outdoor event this year, like 2020, as the country battles the second wave of the virus.
Bangladesh is going through a lockdown that will last until May 5.
Like every year, newspapers will publish supplements while radio and television channels will air special programs to emphasise the significance of this day.
May Day, also called the International Workers' Solidarity Day, commemorates the historic uprising of the working class in Chicago for an eight-hour workday.
This year, the theme for this historic day in Bangladesh is "Sramik-Malik Nirbisesh, Mujib Borshe-Gorbo Desh” (roughly translated reads: workers and employers will join hands to build the country in the Mujib Year).
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages ahead of the day.
President Hamid called upon the owners of mills and factories to assist the government in standing by the vulnerable workers bearing the brunt of the pandemic.
He paid gratitude to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for struggling throughout his life for the underprivileged people.
"Bangladesh received ILO membership soon after independence in 1972 under the bold leadership of Father of the Nation and ratified 29 conventions including six core convention of ILO,” he added.
Prime Minister Hasina also remembered the role of Bangabandhu in establishing the rights of the exploited and working class people.
"Bangabandhu formulated labour policy 1972 in order to establish an exploitation free and equal society. He nationalised the mills and factories to strengthen the economy while ensuring the rights of the workers," she said.
She said her government is working relentlessly to establish the rights of workers.
"Our government has established 100 special economic zones, which will generate employment for more than one crore people," she said. "We allocated Tk 8,600 crore for workers’ wage to combat the pandemic.”
The Prime Minister said the government has allocated Tk 50 crore to Labour Directorate to implement the social safety programme for the unemployed and distressed workers.
Ten workers were killed when police opened fire on a demonstration in Chicago demanding an eight-hour working day instead of a 12-hour shift on May 1, 1886.
The authorities were eventually forced to accept the workers' demand which resulted in an eight-hour day universally.
On July 14, 1889, an international workers' rally in Paris declared May 1 as the International Workers’ Solidarity Day in recognition of the Chicago workers' sacrifice.
The day has been observed globally as the International Workers’ Solidarity Day since 1890.
Khaleda unlikely to be discharged from hospital before Monday: Doctors
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, admitted to Evercare Hospital on Tuesday night, is unlikely to be discharged before Monday next as her health cheek-up is yet to be completed, said her personal physician Mohammad Al Mamun.
“Madam (Khaleda) was scheduled to undergo an important test today (Friday), but it could not be done. This test will be conducted on Sunday. She also needs to undergo some other tests and I think all the investigations are unlikely to be completed before Monday,” he said.
Mamun said they had a plan to take Khaleda back to her house either on Saturday or Sunday. “As the tests are yet to be completed, it won’t be possible to discharge her before Monday.”
Asked whether Khaleda will undergo third Covid test, he said, “It’s not necessary, but we’ll arrange the test for her before she leaves the hospital.”
Also read: 10-member medical board formed for Khaleda's treatment
He said four of the staff of the BNP’s Gulshan residence who found positive for the virus during the second tests underwent the third tests and their reports came out negative. “So, we think she has already fully recovered from the virus.”
Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, another personal doctor of the BNP chief, said they want to complete all the necessary health check-up at the hospital before the BNP chief is discharged from the hospital since he has many health complications, including arthritis, diabetes, and eye and ophthalmological problems.
He said Khaleda was given some new medicines from Wednesday along with the previous ones as per the advice of the medical board formed at the Evercare Hospital for her treatment.
Also read: Khaleda hospitalised for thorough health checkup
Asked when Khaleda may return home, Zahid said they will make a decision on it after reviewing all the reports of her medical tests.
Earlier on Wednesday, 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 for a thorough health checkup.
Khaleda Zia tested positive for Covid-19 test 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.
Also read: Khaleda Zia infected with Covid-19
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.
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.
Bangladesh's daily Covid-19 death toll drops below 60
Bangladesh on Friday reported its single-day Covid-19 death toll of 57, the lowest in 25 days, even though the virus surge still remained at the disturbing level.
The new figure that came in the last 24 hours until Friday morning brought the country's total fatalities to 11,450 while health authorities reported 2,177 new cases during the period.
The infection rate rose to 10.34% from Thursday's 9.39% while the death rate remained static at 1.51%, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country’s infection rate came down below 10% on Thursday after over a month, as it reported a 7.68% infection rate on March 17 and it rose to 10.45% the following day. Since then, the infection rate began an upward march.
The country recorded 52 coronavirus-related deaths on April 5, 78 on April 27, and 77 on April 28, showing a downtrend. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
With the latest figure, 7,59,132 cases have been detected so far in Bangladesh.
The number of recoveries now stands at 681,426, meaning 89.76% of the patients have recovered till now, the DGHS said.
Bangladesh has so far tested 5,469,704 samples, including 21,046 in the past 24 hours. The country reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
April, the fatal month
In the last 30 days, 23,889 cases of infections and more than 2,404 deaths were officially registered, making April the most fatal month since the outbreak began last year.
The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,686 or 58.39%.
Twenty-eight of the 57 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 13 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown extended till May 5
To break the Covid chain, the government enforced a nationwide lockdown in early April. Having failed to achieve the intended results, it imposed a strict lockdown on April 11 and then extended it up to April 28.
On Wednesday, the government issued a circular extending the lockdown up to May 5, as there is no improvement in the Covid-19 situation.
However, shops and shopping malls will remain open from 10am to 8pm during the period, the announcement said.
Vaccination
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The country 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 remained suspended since Monday.
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
Vaccine production in Bangladesh
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on Thursday approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine. It approved the emergency use of the Sputnik V Vaccine of Russia a day earlier.
"We'll get 5 lakh doses of the Chinese vaccine as a gift within 7-10 days. Then we'll start distribution. Then the government will start buying those on a G2G basis," Mahbubur Rahman, Director General of DGDA told reporters on Thursday.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharma and HealthCare Pharma have the capacity of producing vaccines, and the Chinese vaccine could be produced locally, Mahbubur said.
On Thursday, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division noted that the government will purchase vaccine technology from Russian and China through the direct procurement method (DPM)
India's Covid crisis
The explosion of new Covid-19 cases is overwhelming Bangladesh's largest neighbour India, leaving millions of people infected and putting stress on the country's already overtaxed health care system.
With 386,452 new cases, India confirmed more than 18.7 million on Friday since the pandemic began, the second only to the US.
Its health ministry also reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts said the actual figures were likely much higher but it is unclear by how much.
Months ago, India had appeared to be winning its battle against the pandemic. After a strict initial lockdown, the country did not see a surge in new cases and deaths compared to other countries.
But when the early restrictions were lifted, many people stopped taking precautions with large gatherings, political rallies and religious festivals being held at many places, drawing millions of people.
Bangladesh-India border sealed
On April 26, Bangladesh closed its border with India for any kind of movement except that of cargoes for the next 14 days as the coronavirus situation in the neighbouring country had gone out of control.