Covid-19 bd
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.
Opposition MPs call Health Minister “shameless” over health sector “failures”
Terming Health Minister Zahid Maleque a "shameless man" for his “failure, widespread corruption in the health sector and mismanagement in coronavirus treatment, opposition MPs of Jatiya Party and BNP on Saturday demanded his immediate resignation.
They sharply criticized the health minister in Parliament for his failure to ensure oxygen in different hospitals for Covid-19 patients as many died in Satkhira and Bogura districts.
The health minister was not there in the House but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present at the time.
BNP MP Gulam Mohammad Siraj from Bogura-6 first launched the blistering attack on the health minister while speaking on a point of order.
He alleged that around 24 Covid-19 patients died in the last two days in Bogura for lack of oxygen.
The BP MP said Mohammad Ali Hospital in Bogra is a dedicated hospital to Covid-19 treatment but there are only eight ICU beds there and only two high-flow nasal cannula oxygen facilities. “As a result, the rest of the ICU beds are useless.”
Also read: Corruption in health sector widespread: GM Quader
He also said 450 beds in 3 hospitals in Bogra are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients leaving no scope for the hospitalization of new patients.
Gulam Mohammad demanded immediate supply of 20 high-flow oxygen to every hospital.
Jatiya Party Chairman and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in parliament GM Quader, in his winding-up speech, pointed out widespread mismanagement in the health sector, including the health ministry.
He said the health ministry is still there where it was a year ago. “There has been no improvement.”
Bangladesh receives 1st consignment of 2.5 million Moderna vaccine doses
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday night received the first consignment of 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine under the COVAX framework.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Secretary of Health Services Division Lokman Hossain Miah, and other high officials of the Bangladesh government were also present.
The second consignment will reach Dhaka on Saturday morning.
Also read: Bangladesh to receive 45 lakh vaccine doses from COVAX, China within 2 days: Minister
These 2.5 million vaccine doses are part of the US government's recent allocation of 25 million vaccine doses for countries in Asia through COVAX.
2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine to reach Dhaka soon
Commercially purchased two million doses of Sinopharm vaccine are on the way to reaching Bangladesh from China.
The consignment is expected to reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 1am in two aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said Hualong Yan, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka.
Also read: Bangladesh to receive 45 lakh vaccine doses from COVAX, China within 2 days: Minister
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque will receive the vaccine doses.
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.
Lockdown: 320 held for violating lockdown rules on Day 2
Police arrested 320 people from capital Dhaka for violating lockdown restrictions on Friday.
The arrestees were sued under the DMP Ordinance with different police stations of the capital from Friday morning till 5pm, confirmed Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Iftekhairul Islam.
Also, mobile courts fined 208 people on the second day of "stringent lockdown."
Moreover, 68 vehicles were sued and fined Tk 1,19,900 during this time.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 132 more daily deaths, 8,483 cases
According to the latest information on traffic, a total of 219 cases have been filed and fines of Tk. 5,45,500 for violating lockdown restriction on Friday.
Meanwhile, Army personnel were also seen patrolling the streets of Dhaka, as the government scrambles to bring the Covid-19 situation under control.
Though there were fewer private and commercial vehicles on the main roads as compared to Thursday, rickshaws that provide last-mile connectivity to the residents were seen plying at many places.
Also read: Lockdown: Dhaka dons deserted look on Day 2
Police and Rapid Action Battalion members were seen monitoring the movement of vehicles and people after setting up check-posts in different areas of the capital on the 2nd day of the lockdown.
Earlier, the law enforcers detained 373 people and arrested 550 people from different areas of the capital till 5pm on Thursday, said police sources.
Bangladesh entered a stringent lockdown, with patrol teams in the streets to convince people to stay home from Thursday.
Covid swallowing people in Bangladesh; 132 more die
As Covid-19 cases keep surging at a breakneck speed across Bangladesh, the country reported more than 100 deaths for the sixth straight day until early Friday, after confirming its first fatality on March 18 last year.
The new number, 132 deaths, took the country's toll to 14,778. Bangladesh reported 143 deaths on Thursday, its highest-ever daily fatality from the pandemic, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also, 8,483 people were diagnosed with the disease from 30,012 sample tests in the preceding 24 hours, bringing the country's caseload since the beginning of the pandemic to 930,042. Bangladesh reported its highest single-day cases of 8,822 on Wednesday.
The country's test positivity rate reached the peak at 28.27%, which was 25.90% on Thursday and 24.87% on August 4 last year.
Also read: Lockdown: Dhaka dons deserted look on Day 2
Also, new infections have been averaging nearly 7,000 for the past few days – 99% of the peak. The highest daily average was reported on April 9.
Bangladesh to receive 45 lakh vaccine doses from COVAX, China within 2 days: Minister
Bangladesh will receive 45 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine from COVAX facility and China within the next couple of days.
Twenty-five lakh doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine under COVAX facility will arrive in Dhaka on Friday and Saturday in two separate consignments.
On the other hand, Bangladesh will receive two consignments of commercially purchased Sinopharm vaccine doses -- 11 lakh and 9 lakh -- in the next two days.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque shared the updates in a video message on Thursday.
Read: 80pc people to be vaccinated by March: Zahid Maleque
“Around 12 lakh vaccine doses will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 11:20 pm on Friday and the rest on Saturday,” said the minister.
The minister will be present at the airport on Friday.
Earlier, Deputy Chief of Mission at Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Hualong Yan said the first consignment of 2 million doses of vaccine as part of Bangladesh government's commercial purchase from China's Sinopharm are ready for delivery in Beijing.
Scientific evidence to guide decision on SSC, HSC exams: Dipu Moni
The decision on SSC, HSC, and equivalent exams will be taken soon in a scientific and controlled manner, Education Minister Dipu Moni said Wednesday.
"We make decisions based on the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Covid-19," she said.
Talking about the demand to reopen educational institutions, the minister said, "We cannot put the lives of students at risk now by bringing them back to classrooms when the Covid-19 situation is getting worse in the country."
Also read: Bangladesh sees record high daily Covid cases of 8,822; 115 more die
"The educational life of students has been turned upside down by the pandemic all over the world. However, it would be unscientific to reopen educational institutions until the infection rate drops to 5% or below that. The current test positive rate is 24% in Bangladesh; it is even 50% or more in some districts," Dipu Moni said.