coronavirus BD
Bangladesh loses 187 more lives as Covid situation remains girm
Bangladesh reported 187 more Covid-19-related deaths in 24 hours until Thursday morning as the vaccination drive failed to gather pace.
The virus also infected 3,697 others during the period as Bangladesh observed the last day with the lockdown rules relaxed.
With the fresh figures, the total caseload from Covid stands at 11,40,200 while the death toll rose to 18,685, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country saw 200+ Covid-related deaths for the last two weeks on average.
Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 231 on Monday.
The new cases were reported after testing 11, 486 samples. The case positivity rate increased to 32.19 % from Wednesday’s 30.48% %, said the DGHS.
Read: 22 more die of Covid at Rajshahi hospital
Meanwhile, the country’s fatality rate increased slightly to 1.64%.
So far, 9,69,610 people have recovered from the disease, taking the recovery rate to 85.04%
Dhaka division reported 75 of the deaths while Khulna saw 44 and Chattogram 23 deaths. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, 10 in Rajshahi, 11 in Barishal, five in Mymensingh and four in Sylhet divisions.
Of the deaths, one was within 11-20 years of age; four were within 21-30; 20 between 31-40, 12 between 41-50; 49 between 51-60; 64 were between 61-70 years; 27 were between 71-80 years; eight between 81-90, and two were between 91-100 years of age.
With over 4,000 deaths so far, July looks to be the most fatal month since the country saw its fast Covid cases in March, 2020.
Earlier, the country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June.
Read: Khulna division sees 40 new Covid deaths
Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Hospitals are now overwhelmed with patients and struggling to cope with the country’s devastating second wave of Covid infections, driven by the Delta variant.
Upping its guard against the devastating Delta variant of Covid-19, the Bangladesh government on Thursday announced the resumption of the countrywide strict lockdown from July 23.
The restrictions are to come into force at 8am on July 23 and will continue till August 5 midnight, unless extended again.
Muslims in Bangladesh ready to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha Wednesday amid Covid spike
Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated in Bangladesh on Wednesday with Covid-19’s Delta variant wreaking havoc across the country, shattering death records almost every day.
Bangladesh is now battling the deadlier 2nd wave of Covid-19 with over 200 deaths on average over the last two weeks.
Concerns are growing among people over possible hike in Covid deaths and cases after the celebrations of Eid-ul-Azha as the movement of people increased remarkably after the withdrawal of the strict lockdown ahead of Eid. A large number of people left the capital in crowded vehicles ignoring the Covid transmission risk.
Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated on the 10th of Zilhaj to commemorate the true spirit of sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim (AS). On this day, Prophet Ibrahim had offered to sacrifice his son, Ismail, who willingly submitted to the will of his father to please Allah.
But the Almighty in His benign mercy spared Hazrat Ismail (AS) and instead sent a ram to be sacrificed.
Also read: Bangladesh loses 200 more lives amid its grim battle with Covid
Meanwhile, the government has taken various safety measures to make that the celebration does not help the pandemic worsens further.
This year, Eid jamaats in different areas across the country would be held as per decisions taken by local administrations in consultation with public representatives and local dignitaries depending upon the Covid situation in their respective areas and maintaining recommended health guidelines.
The Religious Affairs Ministry issued some guidelines on offering Eid-ul-Azha prayer on Tuesday.
As per the guidelines, no carpet will be allowed at mosques while mosques will be disinfected before prayers.
The devotees have been asked to bring prayer mats from home.
The devotees must wear masks inside mosques and avoid using prayer mats and caps that were stored earlier there.
Also read: Gazipur gridlocked amid pandemic as hundreds head home for Eid
It also suggested devotees go to mosques with ablution and wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap.
Soaps, hand sanitizers and water should be available at the place where people make ablution at the entrance of mosques or Eidgahs.
Devotees should maintain distance from each other following health guidelines.
Children, elderly people, people with physical ailment, and those involved in taking care of patients will not be allowed to attend Eid prayer.
All have to abide by the directives of the Health Service Division, local administrations and law enforcement agencies.
Besides, the devotees were advised to shun handshaking and hugging after the Eid prayer which has been a common practice throughout the world.
The Religious Affairs Ministry urged the imams and managing committees of mosques to ensure proper implementation of the directives.
Also read: Five Eid jamaats to be held at National Mosque
The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock issued specific guidelines over sacrificing animals.
Local administrations, law enforcement agencies, public representatives, staffers of the Islamic Foundation and managing committees of mosques would be implementing the directives.
Eid jamaats at national mosque
Five Eid jamaats will be held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque from 7 am on the day of Eid-ul-Azha.
The Islamic Foundation, Bangladesh revealed the schedules in a media release on Sunday.
The first Eid jamaat will be held at 7am and the next at 8am, 9am, 10 am and 10:45 am.
Bangladesh loses 200 more lives amid its grim battle with Covid
Bangladesh reported 200 more deaths linked to Covid-19 in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, plunging the country into uncertainty.
The virus also infected 11,579 others during the period as Bangladesh stepped into a three-day Eid holiday with the lockdown rules relaxed.
With the fresh figures, the total caseload from Covid stands at 11,28,889 while the death toll rose to 18,325, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country has been seeing 200+ Covid-related deaths for the last two weeks on average.
Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 231 on Monday.
Also read: Chattogram records highest single-day Covid deaths at 15
The new cases were reported after testing 39, 510 samples. The case positivity rate slightly declined to 29.31% from Monday’s 29.59 %, said the DGHS.
Meanwhile, the country’s fatality rate remained static at 1.62%.
So far, 9,51,340 people have recovered from the disease, taking the recovery rate to 84.27%.
Dhaka division reported 51 of the deaths while Khulna saw 50 and Chattogram 49 deaths. Besides, 12 people died in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions each, 11 in Sylhet, eight in Mymensingh and seven in Barishal divisions.
Of the deaths, one was within 11-20 years of age; six were within 21-30; 12 between 31-40, 27 between 41-50; 48 between 51-60; 62 were between 61-70 years; 35 were between 71-80 years; eight between 81-90, and one was between 91-100 years of age.
Also read: Khulna division logs 43 new Covid deaths
With 3822 deaths so far, July looks to be the most fatal month since the country saw its fast Covid cases in March, 2020.
Earlier, the country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June.
Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Hospitals are now overwhelmed with patients and struggling to cope with the country’s devastating second wave of Covid infections, driven by the Delta variant.
Bangladesh to receive 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine Saturday
Bangladesh will receive 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China on Saturday night as part of the commercial agreement as the country has accelerated its vaccination drive.
Deputy Chief of Mission at Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Hualong Yan on Friday told UNB that the vaccine doses will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in two aircraft.
He said China will also provide 10 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine in addition to the 11 lakh doses already received as a gift from it.
"This is a gift for our Bangladeshi brothers and sisters in their fight against the pandemic," Hualong Yan said.
Read: China to continue providing vaccine aid to Bangladesh: Wang Yi
Bangladesh has already received 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine as part of commercial purchase from China.
Bangladesh will receive initially 1.5 crore doses of vaccine as part of a commercial purchase agreement.
Hualong said China stands ready to provide support and assistance to help with Bangladesh government's poverty alleviation through the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to provide Bangladesh with the Covid vaccines to help Bangladesh fight the epidemic.
Read: Covid-19: Government orders 66 crore vaccine doses worth RS 14,505 crore
He also said China is willing to work with Bangladesh to maintain the momentum of the development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.
The Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister met Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momon in Tashkent and discussed the issues on the sidelines of the International Conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity - Challenges and opportunities” on Thursday.
Wang Yi said that China and Bangladesh are good neighbours and friends and the two sides always adhere to equal treatment and mutual respect, continue to deepen friendly cooperation, and actively jointly build the "Belt and Road".
Guidelines issued for haats: Elderly, children not allowed among other directives
The elderlies and children will not be allowed to enter the cattle market ahead of Eid-ul Azha this year, according to guidelines provided by the government.
The Press Information Department (PID) issued an official notice on Wednesday regarding government guidelines to contain the spread of coronavirus in cattle markets.
According to these guidelines, market management should restrict or regulate the entrance of elderly people and children as they are more vulnerable to contagious disease.
Also read: Countrywide digital cattle market launched, gets good response
The markets should have separate entry and exit points alongside hand washing facilities, hand sanitisers and temperature measuring devices.
According to the notice, the markets cannot be set up on main roads or in places that create traffic congestion.
Also read: Cattle markets open in Dhaka amid low arrival, high prices
Mobile courts will take necessary legal actions against those not following the directives, warned the notice.
The notice urged to promote trading of sacrificial animals from the 241 digitals cattle markets (digital haats) set up across the nation.
Mushfiq’s parents test positive for Covid-19
Bangladesh stalwart Mushfiqur Rahim’s parents have been tested positive for Covid-19 and they are being brought to Dhaka for treatment.
Mushfiq is currently travelling to Bangladesh from Zimbabwe where he had gone last month to play a series against the hosts.
It is understood that after coming to know about his parents’ Covid-19 report, Mushfiq decided to back home immediately. He is now set to miss the three-match ODI and T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Also read: Covid claims 210 more lives in Bangladesh, 12,383 more test positive
He earlier had decided to not play the T20I series in this tour, instead, have some days with the family to avert bubble fatigue. However, he later changed his decision, had opted to play the whole series.
But now, for this family emergency, he is going to take a flight to Bangladesh later today (Zimbabwe time).
After winning the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh are now gearing up for the three-match ODI series against the hosts. The ODIs will take place on July 16, 18 and 20.
After that, both the teams will play a three-match T20 series as well which will be played on July 23, 25 and 27. All the matches will be played at the same venue— the Harare Sports Club.
Covid claims 203 more lives in Bangladesh, another 12,198 infected
Struggling with Covid-19’s grim second wave, Bangladesh lost 203 more lives to the deadly virus, while another 12,198 people contracted it in24 hours till Tuesday morning.
The new numbers took the country’s death tally to 16,842 and the caseload to 10,47,155, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases were detected after testing 41,755 samples during the period, pushing up the case positivity rate to 29.21%.
According to the DGHS, 2,339 people lost the battle to Covid-19 and 125,596 more got infected as of July13.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the 24-hour period.
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
Also read: Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
So far, 889,167 people have recovered from the disease, taking the country’s recovery rate to 84.91%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deaths, 61 were reported in Dhaka, 53 in Khulna, and 30 in Chattogram divisions and 27 in Rajshahi. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, seven in Mymensingh and five each in Barishal and Sylhet divisions.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, making those the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Lockdown eased
The 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.
However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order.
Also read: FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
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.
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 every day.
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 is an emergency.
Mass inoculation to restart Monday with Sinopharm, Tuesday with Moderna: DGHS
Mass inoculation for Covid-19 will restart from Monday (July 12) with Chinese vaccine Sinopharm in district and upazila hospitals and from Tuesday (July 13) with COVAX’s Modera jabs in municipal hospitals, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Sunday.
Line director of the vaccine deployment committee, Professor Dr Shamsul Haque announced the news during the regular Covid-19 bulletin of the DGHS.
By Sunday Moderna doses will reach vaccine centres across the country, while Sinopharm doses were sent Saturday to all the municipal centres, he said.
Also read: Massive vaccination to begin in July: PM
The additional stock has been ensured for sending to districts and upazilas, said Dr Shamsul Haque, mentioning that all the preparation for mass inoculation has been completed.
As from Monday and the next day, people across the country will start getting shots again, it can be said that mass inoculation for Covi-19 resumed, he added.
Dr Haque said the 1 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine so far received will be administered at the seven hospitals of Dhaka and after that Moderna vaccine doses will be administered in these hospitals.
Also read: Registration for Covid vaccination to restart Thursday
In the other 40 Covid-19 vaccination centres of the city, Sinopharm vaccine shots will be administered till Monday and after that Moderna shots will be administered in those hospitals, he added.
Soon a decision will be taken on the urgent vaccination needs of the students who want to go abroad for study as a conversation with the Prime Minister is ongoing, said the line director of the vaccine deployment committee.
Until now expatriate workers were being vaccinated in seven centres of Dhaka, but from Monday they will be able to receive the shots from any medical college of the country, said Dr Shamsul.
1.84 lakh doses of Moderna, Sinopharm vaccines reach Chattogram
Some 184,000 doses of Moderna and Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines reached Chattogram on Sunday as the government is set to accelerate the inoculation drive amid the worsening corona situation.
Among the shots, 105,600 doses of Moderna MRNA developed by the USA, while the rest 78,400 are of Sinopharm developed by China, said a PID handout.
It is expected that the vaccination drive in Chattogram will begin on Tuesday (July 13).
Also read: Bangladesh to receive 60 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses in Aug: Minister
The Moderna vaccine doses will be given in nine centres of the city, while that of Sinopharm at the upazila level. The people, aged above 35, would be able to receive the vaccines on completion of the registration process.
Civil Surgeon of Chattogram Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi received the vaccines of Moderna and Sinopharm, carried by freezer vans of Beximco Pharmaceutical.
Earlier, more than 8.5 lakh shots of Covid vaccines --762,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and 91,200 doses of Sinopharm vaccine-- were sent to Chattogram.
Also read: Bangladesh hopeful of receiving 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month: FM
On January 31 last, some 456,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine reached Chattogram in the first phase, while 306,000 doses of the same vaccines on April 09 in the second phase. Later, some 91,200 shoots of Sinopharm vaccine reached the port city on June 18 last.
The Covid vaccination first began in Chattogram on February 7 last.
Covid shatters all records in Bangladesh with 230 single-day deaths, 11,856 cases
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is getting more fatal with every passing day, as the country saw the highest-ever 230 deaths and 11,856 new cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
With the new numbers, Bangladesh’s death tally hit 16,419 while the caseload 1,021,189, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Earlier, Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 212 on July 9, and 11, 651 cases on July 8.
However, the country’s daily case positivity rate fell to 29.67% from Saturday’s 31.46%, as 40,015 samples were tasted during the period.
The fatality rate today rose to 1.61% from Saturday’s 1.60%, said the DGHS.
Bangladesh has been seeing over 150 deaths for a week since its logging 164 deaths on July 4. Also, the average new daily detected cases remained over 10,000 for the last seven days.
Also read: Covid nightmare in Barisal division: Record caseload of 710 reported
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June marking 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.
So far, 874,501 people recovered from the disease taking the country’s recovery rate to 85.64%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deceased, 133 were men and 97 women.
Khulna division, the emerging hotspot of Covid, saw 66 of the deaths during the 24-hour period, while Dhaka reported 56 and Chattogram 39. Besides, 26 people in Rajshahi, 22 in Rangpur, eight each in Barishal and Sylhet and five in Mymensingh divisions died of Covid-19.
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration on July 8 for receiving Covid-19 jabs, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Also read: 14 more covid patients die in Khulna
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 206,140 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,254 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 22,342 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 6,644 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,295,218 received the second shot and 5,820,033 the first one so far.