Covid-19 lockdown
Passengers' movement through Indo-Bangla land ports to remain shut till May 31
The government has extended restrictions on the movement of passengers through land ports with India, up to May 31, as India's surge in coronavirus cases continues.
Although borders with India will remain closed to people, goods will continue to cross.
Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain
However, Bangladeshi citizens, stranded in India, could enter through Benapole, Akhaura, Burimari Darshana, Hili, and Sonamasjid.
The general movement of people between Bangladesh and India, through all the other land ports, will remain suspended.
Also read: Bangladesh loses 26 more lives to Covid, toll reaches 12,310
Railroads will be encouraged for the export and import of goods between the two countries during this period.
Bangladesh citizens now stranded in India, who qualifies and are willing to return to the country, will have to submit a Covid-19 negative certificate with QR code (RT-PCR) to obtain a no-objection certificate from Bangladesh missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala, the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura's Agartala India said Friday.
Also read: Shutting border with India: Experts praise it as prudent decision
Earlier, the government closed the border with India for 14 days with effect from April 26 but cargoes carrying goods were allowed to operate as usual.
Later on May 8, the border suspension was extended for 14 more days.
Covid-19: Bangladesh again sees steep rise in deaths, new cases
Bangladesh on Wednesday witnessed 37 more Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours until Wednesday morning.
The death tally now stands at 12,248 while the mortality rate remains static at 1.56%.
Besides, the country saw 1,608 new cases with an increased number of tests as 20,538 samples were tested during the period, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The infection rate rose to 7.83% from Tuesday’s 7.55%.
Also read: Govt approves proposal to import Sinofarm vaccine
The country reported 30 deaths from the virus on Tuesday and 32 on Monday.
Among the latest fatalities, 24 are men and 13 are women.
Closure of schools, colleges extended until May 29
The government has again extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions until May 29 due to the recent spike in Covid-19 infections.
The decision was taken considering the safety of students, teachers and staffers after consultation with the National Advisory Committee on Covid-19, said an official release signed by M A Khair, public relations officer of the Education Ministry.
During the closure online classes will continue, it said.
Earlier, the government decided to reopen schools and colleges on May 23 and the Education Ministry issued a notice in this regard.
Also read: Covid-19: Ongoing lockdown to be extended until May 23
The government shut educational institutions on March 17 last year after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8.
The closure was extended several times, most recently until May 23 this year.
On February 22 the education minister announced that university classes would resume on May 24.
Residential halls were scheduled to be reopened on May 17.
Also read: Schools, colleges to reopen on May 23
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh
Covid-19 claimed 22 more lives in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours until Saturday morning which is the lowest daily deaths in nearly two months.
The country saw 26 Covid deaths on Friday and 31 on Thursday.
With the latest deaths logged today, the official Covid-related death count in the country reached 12,124.
However, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.55%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Covid-19: 22 more lives lost, lowest daily deaths in 7 weeks
The country witnessed a sharp drop in the number of new cases as the tests have declined dramatically.
Only 261 infections were logged in the last 24 hours after examining 3,758 samples during the period.
The number of daily cases has been decreasing since the beginning of May, falling below 2,000.
Covid-19: 22 more lives lost, lowest daily deaths in 7 weeks
Covid-19 claimed 22 more lives in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours until Saturday morning which is the lowest daily deaths in nearly two months.
The country saw 26 Covid deaths on Friday and 31 on Thursday.
With the latest deaths logged today, the official Covid-related death count in the country reached 12,124.
However, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.55%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country witnessed a sharp drop in the number of new cases as the tests have declined dramatically.
Only 261 infections were logged in the last 24 hours after examining 3,758 samples during the period.
The number of daily cases has been decreasing since the beginning of May, falling below 2,000.
Besides, the number of tests fell below 20, 00 on May 7 and has been on the wane since.
Also read: Covid-19: Ongoing lockdown to be extended until May 23
The country also confirmed 779,796 Covid-19 cases in total, says the DGHS handout.
The daily infection rate dropped to 6.95% from Friday's 10.82%, while the recovery rate stood at 92.52%.
Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,702,286 tests since reporting the first Covid-19 cases on March 8 last year and the first death from the virus on the 18th of the month.
The country experienced a surge in Covid-19 cases in April, recording its highest single-day cases of 7,626 on April 7. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
Lockdown extended till May 23
The government is going to extend the ongoing lockdown for another week until May 23 to stem the spread of Covid-19.
“The ongoing restrictions will be extended for another week and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given approval to it. A notification will be issued on Sunday,” State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told UNB on Friday.
The nationwide lockdown, imposed on April 5 to break the chain of Covid-19 infections and fatalities, has been extended several times to limit public movement and contain the surge in daily infections.
Also read: Global Covid cases approach 162 million
Vaccination drive
In late January, countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka started receiving vaccine doses through donations from India and other countries and commercial deals.
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But India temporarily halted exports of vaccines on March 24 to prioritise domestic requirements, following an explosion in Covid cases and fatalities in the country.
The move has left the region with a serious shortage of vaccines.
The administering of the first dose in Bangladesh has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
5 lakh Chinese vaccine doses arrive
Bangladesh on Wednesday received 5 lakh doses of China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine as a gift.
Also read: 500 thousand doses of China’s gifted vaccine arrive in Bangladesh
The development came after the WHO listed the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, giving a nod for it to be rolled out globally.
Initially reluctant Bangladesh approved the Chinese jabs along with Russia's Sputnik vaccine as the second wave of the pandemic hit the country with dwindling vaccine stock.
India returnee tests Covid-19 positive in N’ganj, house put under lockdown
An India returnee tested positive for Coronavirus in Tarabo area of Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj on Wednesday.
Local administration has put the house of Md Hossain, 25, under lockdown, said Dr Md Imtiaz, Civil Surgeon of the district .
Md Imtiaz said the samples of Hossain and his family members were collected on Tuesday.
Also read: Covid-19 claims 40 more lives, infects 1,144 others
“His tested positive for Covid-19 but his family members tested negative. We have put the house under lockdown and his family members will also stay in isolation,” he said.
Earlier on May 8,the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research(IEDCR) confirmed the first case of Indian Coronavirus strain in Bangladesh.
Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain
The Indian strain of Coronavirus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka and it has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
Later that day, two more confirmed cases of Indian Coronavirus strain were detected at the Genome Centre of Jessore University of Science and Technology.
Also read: Indian Covid Strain: Two more cases identified in Jessore
Bangladesh decided to extend the closure of border with India for another 14 days on the same day, keeping movement of cargoes carrying goods uninterrupted as the Covid-19 situation keeps worsening in India.
India’s crematoriums and burial grounds are being overwhelmed by the devastating new surge of infections tearing through the populous country with terrifying speed, depleting the supply of life-saving oxygen to critical levels and leaving patients to die while waiting in line to see doctors, reports AP from New Delhi.
Covid-19 claims 40 more lives, infects 1,144 others
Bangladesh has registered 40 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours until Wednesday morning, showing a rise in the number of daily deaths than the previous day.
With the news deaths the national tally reached at 12,045 on Wednesday. The country witnessed 33 deaths on Tuesday.
Bangladesh has been seeing below 60 daily deaths for a week after recording over 100 fatalities on several occasions in April.
However, the mortality rate rose to 1.55 percent, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Besides, 1,140 new cases were detected after testing of 15,296 samples, pushing up the caseload to 777,397. Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,677,222 tests.The daily infection rate fell slightly to 7.45 percent from Tuesday’s 8.67 percent.
Bangladesh was experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases in April and the daily cases came down to below 2000 since May 1.
DGHS said 2,928 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 92.39 percent.
Also Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 41 deaths in 24 hours, lowest in 39 days
The country reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Dhaka worst-hit region
Dhaka has remained the worst-hit division, recording 6,972 fatalities or 57.88 percent of the total deaths until now.
Of the total daily deaths, sixteen deaths have been reported from Dhaka alone while 13 from Chattogrram.
Extended lockdown
The lockdown imposed on April 4 to contain the spread of coronavirus has been extended till May 16 as the government continues to discourage people from travelling to their village homes.
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.
Inter-district transport services have remained closed while intra-district transport services were allowed to operate ensuring health guidelines. Launch and train services remain off.
Also Read: 500 thousand doses of China’s gifted vaccine arrive in Bangladesh
But the restrictions could not deter people from travelling to their village homes ignoring health risks.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government 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. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
In the last 24 hours, 10 people have received the first dose of the vaccine while 97,337 have received the second dose, said the health directorate.
Also Read: Nothing to be worried about vaccines: FM
Vaccine arrives from China
Covid-19 vaccine doses, donated by the Chinese government to Bangladesh, arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday morning.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, China and Bangladesh have been supporting and assisting each other to fight together against the pandemic.
China has donated and is donating vaccines to 80 developing countries with urgent needs, and has provided support under COVAX for the emergency use of vaccines in developing countries.
Covid-19 death toll in Bangladesh crosses 12,000
Bangladesh on Tuesday crossed the grim milestone of 12,000 coronavirus fatalities, nearly 15 months after reporting the first death in March last year.
With 33 latest fatalities in 24 hours until morning, the death tally soared to 12,005.
The country has been seeing below 60 daily deaths for a week after recording over 100 fatalities on several occasions last month.
However, the mortality rate rose to 1.55 percent after staying at 1.54 for four days, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Besides, 1,230 new cases were detected after testing of 14,184 samples, pushing up the caseload to 776,257. Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,661,926 tests.
The daily infection rate fell slightly to 8.67 percent from Monday’s 8.99 percent.
Also read: Ready to offer more support if Covid situation deteriorates in Bangladesh: China
After a massive upsurge in April, the number of daily cases fell below 2,000 since May 1.
However, the number of tests, as well as new cases, has declined from May 4, according to corona.gov.bd.
People still trying to leave Dhaka defying restrictions, ignoring Covid risks
Many people are still making frantic efforts to leave Dhaka to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with their families in villages defying a ban on inter-district public transport due to the worsening Covid-19 situation.
Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival of the Muslims, is scheduled to be celebrated across the country later this week. Thousands of people started to leave the city from early in the morning on Sunday.
Witnesses said a large number of people were seen crossing Tongi Bridge from Abdullahpur of Uttara, Amin Bazar Bridge from Gabtoli, Postagola Burigonga bridge of Shympur and Babu Bazar Burigonga Bridge on foot.
The government has imposed lockdown restrictions since April due to an increase in the coronavirus infection. Even though long-distance buses are shut, people are travelling to villages in any way they can.
Also read: BGB deployed on Paturia-Daulatdia, Shimulia-Banglabazar routes
The number of ferries has been reduced at Mawa and Paturia terminals and BGB members have been deployed there to prevent people from crossing the Padma.
Despite the government's effort, people are continuing to rush to northern and southern districts from Dhaka on small vehicles ignoring health risks.
Ferry services were closed during the day.
Border with India to remain shut for another 14 days
The government has decided to extend the closure of border with India for another 14 days keeping movement of cargoes carrying goods uninterrupted as the Covid-19 situation keeps worsening in India.
“It has been extended for another 14 days. The previous conditions will remain unchanged," Secretary (East) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mashfee Binte Shams told UNB over phone.
The latest decision of the extension was taken at a virtual meeting held on Saturday with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen in the chair.
Earlier, the government closed the border with India for 14 days with effect from April 26 but cargoes carrying goods were allowed to operate as usual.
Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain
As per the previous decision, general movements of humans between Bangladesh and India will temporarily stay suspended through land ports.
The Bangladeshi citizens currently travelling to India for treatment and having visas with validity for less than 15 days could enter Bangladesh through only Benapole, Akhaura and Burimari after taking permission from Bangladesh Missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala and with a mandatory Covid-negative certificates done through PCR test within 72 hours of entry.
People entering Bangladesh through this process would have to stay officially quarantined for two weeks.
Except for the aforementioned three land ports, all kinds of human movements through all other land ports between the two countries would completely stay suspended for two weeks.
Also read: Indian Covid Strain: Two more cases identified in Jessore
The vehicles carrying imported goods from India would have to be properly sterilised before entering Bangladesh borders.
The drivers and helpers concerned would have to observe the Covid-19 safety protocol strictly.
Railroads will be encouraged for the export and import of goods between the two countries during this period.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 45 more deaths with 1285 new cases
Bangladesh Missions in New Delhi, Kolkata and Agartala will convey the relevant information in this regard to the authorities concerned in India in the light of the friendly relations between the two countries.
India’s crematoriums and burial grounds are being overwhelmed by the devastating new surge of infections tearing through the populous country withb a terrifying speed, depleting the supply of life-saving oxygen to critical levels and leaving patients to die while waiting in line to see doctors, reports AP from New Delhi.
India recorded over 4 lakh new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, taking the country’s total caseload to over 2.18 crore. Out of these, over 37 lakh cases are currently active while over 1.79 crore people have recovered.
Also read: India's surge hits southern states, prompts more lockdowns
With 4,187 new deaths, the toll now stands at over 2.38 lakh. At least 14 states are reporting cases in five figures.
Maharashtra reported about 54,000 cases, Karnataka had nearly 49,000, while Kerala had over 38,000.
Indian variant coronavirus found in Bangladesh
A confirmed case of Indian Coronavirus strain has been detected in Bangladesh, says theInstitute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research(IEDCR) on Saturday.
Also read: Shutting border with India: Experts praise it as prudent decision
"The Indian variant of Coronavirus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. It has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data(GSID)," said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) DG Dr ABM Khurshid Alam also told the media that the Indian variant of Coronavirus has been found in Bangladesh.
Indian Covid Strain: Two more cases identified in Jessore
Two more confirmed cases of Indian Coronavirus strain have been detected at the Genome Centre of Jessore University of Science and Technology.
A media release signed by Md Abdur Rashid, the Public Relations officer of the university, confirmed the recent development.
According to the press release, three among 16 Indian returnees tested positive for Covid-19 recently after entering Bangladesh.
Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain
Their samples were collected from Jessore General Hospital and sent to the university lab on May 6.
A research team, led by the Assistant Director of the Genome Centre Dr Md Iqbal Kabir identified the Indian Covid variant in two of the collected samples through sequencing.
Earlier in the day, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research(IEDCR) confirmed the first case of Indian Coronavirus strain in Bangladesh.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 45 more deaths with 1285 new cases
The Indian strain of Coronavirus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka and it has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
India’s crematoriums and burial grounds are being overwhelmed by the devastating new surge of infections tearing through the populous country with terrifying speed, depleting the supply of life-saving oxygen to critical levels and leaving patients to die while waiting in line to see doctors, reports AP from New Delhi.
Also read: India's surge hits southern states, prompts more lockdowns
India recorded over 4 lakh new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, taking the country’s total caseload to over 2.18 crore. Out of these, over 37 lakh cases are currently active while over 1.79 crore people have recovered.
With 4,187 new deaths, the toll now stands at over 2.38 lakh. At least 14 states are reporting cases in five figures. Maharashtra reported about 54,000 cases, Karnataka had nearly 49,000, while Kerala had over 38,000.