Covid-19 lockdown
Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
The Bangladesh government has decided to ease all lockdown restrictions in the country for eight days ahead of Eid ul Azha.
In a notification on Tuesday morning, the cabinet division said that the lockdown restrictions will be lifted from July 14 midnight to the morning of July 23.
Read: Bangladesh ready to go into 'strict lockdown' from Monday
However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order.
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that Bangladesh Railway is going to restore its passenger train services for eight days from July 15-22 across the country, keeping 50% of the seats empty apparently to facilitate the movement of people during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Read: Bangladesh extends lockdown until June 6
Public transport services and business institutions will also be allowed to function.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on July 21 amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, shattering records everyday.
Read: Breaching Lockdown: 585 arrested, Tk 8.9 lakh realised in fines
A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there's an emergency.
Lockdown Breaches: 708 arrested, Tk 5.5 lakh fined on day 11
Police arrested 708 people and fined Tk 5,52,500 from vehicles in the capital for lockdown breaches on the eleventh day, Sunday.
The arrestees were out on the streets violating restrictions, said DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (media) Iftekharul Islam.
Meanwhile, mobile courts collected Tk 5,38,680 as fines from 184 people.
Also read: Breaching Lockdown: 585 arrested, Tk 8.9 lakh realised in fines
During this time, the Traffic Division collected Tk 5,52,500 as penalties from 244 vehicles for failing to comply with coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Bangladesh is currently under a 14-day lockdown imposed to tame an alarming surge in the Covid infections across the country.
Also read: Lockdown Breaches: 1077 arrested as more people defy restrictions
Started on July 1 the nationwide strict lockdown will continue till July 14 midnight.
Meanwhile, both Covid cases and fatalities continue to hit new records.
Auto-rickshaw workers seek PM’s intervention to overcome their hardships
Auto-rickshaw and light vehicle drivers have demanded that the government provides them emergency food and cash support to their families facing serious hardships due to nationwide 'strict nationwide lockdown'.
In a statement on Saturday, Abul Hossain and Golam Faruk, President and General Secretary of the Bangladesh Auto-Rickshaw Light Vehicle Transport Workers Federation (BALTWF) respectively, said the lockdown has left them without any work and earning.
Also read: Auto-rickshaw, light vehicles workers demand food, cash support amid 'lockdown'
The BALTF leaders said they have already made appeals to different concerned government offices seeking cash and food support for the unemployed and unfed workers.
“Even, we made our appeals through a press conference on June 28 in the city”, the BALTWF leaders said.
Also read: Auto-rickshaw drivers, light vehicle workers demand food support
Transport workers are mainly day labourers. Their income has now totally stopped. “The transport workers feel that hunger is more critical for their lives than the Coronavirus.”
“We need livelihoods to save our lives. That’s why we seek Prime Minister’s intervention to ensure cash and food support for the transport workers”, said the BALTWF statement.
Bangladesh in grip of Covid’s wave; sees record 212 deaths
Bangladesh on Friday saw 212 Covid-19 deaths, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country, amid a strict nationwide lockdown in effect since July 1.
Also, Covid-19 infections in the country are at their peak now, with 9,665 new cases reported each day – the highest daily average.
The country recorded 11,324 infections in 24 hours till Friday morning after testing 36,850 samples.
Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 201 on Wednesday and 11, 651 cases on Thursday.
The country is in the grip of a second wave of the coronavirus that is threatening to overwhelm its health service.
Also read: Dhaka reemerging as Covid hotspot as battle plan ‘fails’: Experts
There have been 1,000,543 infections and 16,004 coronavirus-related deaths in Bangladesh since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
However, the test positivity rate dropped to 14.49%. The daily positivity rate of 31.62% on Thursday raised concerns among experts as the World Health Organization recommended a 5% or below rate.
Meanwhile, the death rate remains unchanged at 1.60%, and the recovery rate dropped to 86.19%.
Khulna division reported the highest 79 deaths, Dhaka 53, Chattogram 26, Rajshahi 23, Rangpur 12, Mymensingh eight, Sylhet six and Barishal five.
Also read: Global Covid cases top 185 million
Hospitals are now overwhelmed with patients and struggling to cope as the country is experiencing a devastating second wave of Covid infections, driven by the Delta variant.
The Prime Minister's Office on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to increase oxygen supply and corona beds in hospitals across the country to ensure the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 10,114,578 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 3.1% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.
Registration for Covid vaccination to restart Thursday
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government is going to resume the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs from Thursday (July 8), said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Tuesday.
“The registration process will resume for all from Thursday morning,” Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman, Director (MIS) of the DGHS, told UNB.
“Currently, the registration is ongoing only in three categories on a priority basis. As the mass registration process resumes, all the categories will be available for registering through the Surokkha app as before,” he said.
Earlier, on June 30, Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the Vaccine Deployment Committee, also made the same announcement at a virtual press briefing arranged by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
He said the Sinopharm jabs will be administered at 40 centers in Dhaka city and at all district hospitals from 8am to 3pm every day as in the past.
Also read: Bangladesh’s Covid catastrophe worsens; 163 more lives lost
Dr Haque said the vaccine will also be given at Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) in Chattogram and Saidpur Sadar Hospital during the same period.
He said those who got registered earlier but could not receive the vaccines will be given the Sinopharm jabs now while the medical and university students and those who are on the priority lists can get registered for the vaccine. “Everyone will get an SMS from a vaccination centre after the registration and all must receive the vaccine at that centre accordingly. “In this case, the vaccine card and NID card must be brought for receiving the vaccine.”
Dr Haque said the Covid vaccination centers will remain out of the purview of the lockdown. “Those who have vaccine cards will be able to go to the relevant centre showing it.”
He said the expatriate workers who stay in countries where the Sinopharm vaccine is accepted also can receive the vaccine at the centers both in Dhaka and outside. “But no one will get the vaccine without registration.”
Also read: Chinese firms working with Bangladeshi partners for vaccine co-production
Besides, Dr Haque said, the Pfizer vaccine will also be administered at seven centers--Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Kurmitola General Hospital, and Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital—in the capital.
He said the outbound expatriate workers who are not allowed to return to their workplaces without getting Pfizer vaccine can only receive the vaccine at the seven centers as per the list from the Manpower Export Promotion Bureau.
Dr Haque said those who are supposed to receive Sinopharm jabs from these centres will have to go to alternative centres.
Bangladesh’s Covid catastrophe worsens; 163 more lives lost
In a disastrous turn, Bangladesh recorded its highest-ever 11,525 cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning as the case positivity rate hit 31.46%.
During the period, the country lost 163 more lives to Covid-19, according to a handout provided by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On Monday, Bangladesh saw a record-high 9,964 cases and 164 deaths as both infections and deaths are mounting at an alarming speed.
The new numbers took the country’s death toll to 15, 392 while the caseload to 966,406.
The fresh coronavirus cases were detected after testing 36,631 samples during the period, the DGHS said.
However, the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.59% during the period.
So far, 844,515 people have recovered from the disease putting the recovery rate at 87.39%, which is declining unlike other indicators.
Also read: At 1,865, Khulna records highest single-day Covid cases
Among today’s deceased, 91 were aged above 60, 29 aged between 51-60, 27 were aged between 41-50, 11 aged between 31-40 and five were aged between 21-30, showed the DGHS handout.
Khulna division logged 46 deaths today, while Dhaka saw 45 and Rajshahi and Chattogram 24 each. Besides, 11 died in Rangpur, six in Barishal, five in Rangpur and two in Mymensingh divisions.
Covid getting deadlier in Bangladesh; record-high 153 die in 24 hours
The second wave of Covid-19 in Bangladesh is getting much deadlier with 153 more people losing lives to the virus in 24 hours till Sunday morning, pushing up the total death toll to 15,065.
With this, the daily-death record was shattered thrice in the country within eight days as 143 deaths were reported on July1 and 119 on June 27.
During the period, 8,661 more Covid cases were detected after testing 29,879 samples, overwhelming the country’s healthcare system quickly.
This raises the country's case positivity rate during the period to 28.99% from Saturday’s 27.39%, according to a handout provided by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, the fatality rate remained static at 1.59%
With the fresh cases, Bangladesh’s caseload mounted to 944,917 today, said the DGHS.
So far, 833,897 people have recovered from the virus infections, putting the recovery rate at 88.25%.
Khulna division today recorded 51 deaths while Dhaka saw 46. Besides, 15 people each in Chattogram and Rangpur, 12 in Rajshahi, nine in Mymensingh, three in Barishal and two in Sylhet divisions died of Covid-19 today.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, marking those the most fatal months of this year.
Also, July was the most fatal month of 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Also read: Khulna logs record 46 single-day Covid deaths
Herd immunity unlikely anytime soon
Although its study suggests around 71 percent of Dhaka city dwellers have already gained antibodies for coronavirus, an icddr,b scientist says herd immunity threshold is still out of reach in Bangladesh’s capital, let alone the whole country to reach it.
Dr Rubhana Raqib, a senior scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), also says it may not be possible to attain the long-term herd immunity for Covid-19 as long as the virus continues to mutate as she thinks highly contagious new variants can break people’s immune protection gained either from the previous infections or vaccination.
In a recent interview with UNB, she also said it is generally assumed that Covid-19 may remain active like influenza and other flues for a long time and it is quite possible that people will need to receive the vaccine at a regular interval until the virus loses its mutation or virulence capability.
icddr,b conducted a study titled “Driving Factors of Covid-19 in Slums and Non-Slum Areas of Dhaka and Chittagong,” between October 2020 and February 2021 to evaluate the extent of the spread of the virus in the slum and non-slum communities of the two cities.
Lockdown: Police arrest 621 for violations on Dhaka streets
Police arrested 621 people for being on the streets in capital Dhaka in violation of a strictly-enforced lockdown on its third day Saturday.
The arrestees were picked up while roaming in different parts of the city, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Iftekhairul Islam.
He also said that Tk 19,22,350 was collected in penalties from vehicles across the capital under the Road Transport Act.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records 100+ daily deaths for one week
However, the officer did not provide any information on the total number of vehicles sued.
Besides, mobile courts slapped fines on 346 people collecting an amount of Tk 106450.
Despite a vigilant position by the law enforcers, the number of both people and vehicles taking to the streets increased a bit on the third day of lockdown.
Also read: Lockdown: Third day sees more people, vehicles on roads, 184 detained
Traffic Inspector Akter Hossain (Rajlaxmi Uttara), said “The number of vehicles is higher than the last two days but we are also active and allowing only those who have valid reasons to come out.”
The government imposed a seven-day lockdown from July 1 to contain a surge of Covid-19 infections across the country. It will continue until July 7 midnight.
Two mosques present two pictures of adherence to guidelines
No mosque in Dhaka, sometimes called the City of Mosques, has gone as far as cancelling Friday’s Jummah prayer. All that is really expected of them is to follow the government guidelines on social distancing amidst the coronavirus outbreak.
Visiting two mosques in the capital, two different scenarios have been captured by the UNB photographers.
A relatively small number of devotees at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque have offered Jummah prayer maintaining social distance.
Covid-19 burials: Quantum volunteers working through this lockdown too
The Quantum Foundation, one of the voluntary organizations in the country, is actively involved in the burials of coronavirus victims, even amidst an all-out lockdown across the country.
Thousands of Quantum volunteers are working 24 hours a day or night for the burial of the deceased, regardless of religion, said a press release from Quantum Foundation.
Despite the lockdown, relentless humanitarian service activities are going on all over the country including the capital.
Khandaker Sajibul Islam, who is in charge of Quantum Burial in Kakrail, said, "We were able to bury 20 bodies of coronavirus victim in Dhaka till night on the first day of the nationwide lockdown on July 1."
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 132 more daily deaths, 8,483 cases
Quantum Foundation workers have buried nearly 4,000 bodies since 2020.
Quantum has been working for the burials of bodies with coronavirus or corona symptoms since the beginning of Corona in April, 2020.