Natore
Snarls return to Natore as curbs ease
Commuters had a harrowing time on Wednesday morning as rush-hour traffic crawled on the Natore-Pabna highway clogged with a long tailback stretching over 20km.
Police attributed the snarls on the high-speed corridor to the huge pressure of vehicles on the roads in the wake of the government easing the Covid-19 lockdown curbs. Also, repair work on the railway tracks passing through the area added to the woes of the motorists.
Read: 25 km long tailback on Dhk-Ctg highway
Mozaffar Hossain, officer-in-charge of the Banpara Highway police station, said that the railway authorities shut the Muladuli level crossing on Tuesday morning to carry out the repair work, forcing people to take a detour via the highway.
Traffic on the highway, however, normalised around noon after the railway authorities opened the level crossing following the repair work, said the OC.
Natore road crash leaves 5 people dead
Five people were killed when a pickup van overturned on Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway in Gurudaspur uapzila of Natore on Sunday noon.
The identities of the deceased are yet to be known.
Six other people including three children were also injured in this accident.
Read:3 killed in Gaibandha road crash
Locals said the accident occurred when a Dhaka-bound pickup van from Natore's Bonpara overturned after its driver lost control over the steering in Kachikata Mor area, leaving five people dead on spot.
Abdur Razzak, officer-in-charge of Gurudaspur Police Station, said fire service men rescued the injured and sent them to nearby Upazila Health Complex.
Human trafficking ring busted in Natore, 2 held
Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Monday evening arrested two members of a human trafficking ring in Natore.
The arrestees have been identified as Sohrab Hossain (55) and Chanawur Islam (23). Of them, Sohrab is also an accused in a rape case, the RAB said in a release.
Read:Community radios sensitise people on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
According to the elite force, a team of RAB-5 Natore camp led by company commander Major Sanaria Chowdhury conducted a raid in the Bagrom area of Natore Sadar Upazila on Monday evening, based on a tip off, and arrested the two.
Another member of the human trafficking racket, named Ali, however, managed to escape.
RAB destroys four country-made bombs in Natore
The bomb disposal unit of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Monday night disposed of four country-made bombs in the Naribari area of Natore’s Gurudaspur.
Read: College student drowns after jumping into river in Natore; body goes missing
Officials said that local residents spotted the bombs wrapped in a plastic bag in the bushes next to a pesticide store in the area on Monday afternoon and informed the police.
Soon, a joint team of local police and RAB personnel rushed to the spot, evacuated the area and cordoned it off. In the evening, the RAB bomb disposal unit reached the spot from Dhaka and destroyed the bombs around 8 pm, officials said.
Read:Patient in Natore flees clinic, dies on street gasping for air
"However, the bombs were not powerful. RAB members took away the exploded remains of the bombs to Dhaka for further examination," said Natore Police chief Liton Kumar Saha. "A probe is on."
College student drowns after jumping into river in Natore; body goes missing
A college student on Tuesday drowned soon after he jumped into the Baranoi river for a swim in Natore’s Naldanga.
The deceased was identified as Emon Ali, son of Sirajul Islam of Haludghar area and a second-year business management student of Sadhanpur Pangu Niketan in Rajshahi’s Puthia.
It was learned that Emon seemed to lose consciousness right after jumping into the river.
The incident occurred at around 2 pm. His body was washed away by the tide and is yet to be found.
READ: 4 children drown in Kishoreganj and Pabna
According to locals, his body was seen just for a glance after he jumped.
A video of the incident went viral on social media.
Naldanga police ran operations to recover the body but failed.
Naldanga Police Station OC Nazrul Islam said Emon went to swim at the Baranoi river near the local government primary school with people of different ages in the area.
READ: 2 cousins drown in Ghaghot River in Rangpur
The divers of the fire service had been informed, OC Nazrul added
Lockdown in Natore extended till June 29
As the Covid-19 situation in Natore district is out of control, the local administration has extended the ongoing lockdown in eight municipalities by another week till June 29.
Deputy Commissioner of Natore district Shamim Ahmed announced it after a meeting on Tuesday night.
As per the decision of the meeting, the restriction will be in place from 6 am on June 23 to 6 pm June 29.
Also read: 8-day lockdown in Fatikchhari begins tomorrow
During the lockdown, all modes of public transport will stay off the roads. However, the movement restrictions won't apply to vehicles providing emergency services.
Moreover, all shops, markets and restaurants will remain closed, except for grocery stores and pharmacies. This is to allow people to buy their daily essentials and medicines from their local grocers and chemists.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 76 more deaths, 4,846 fresh cases
Earlier, the local administration imposed restriction in two municipalities—Sadar and Singra municipalities—in two phases from June 9.
Amid a desperate bid to procure vaccines for all, Bangladesh reported 76 fresh coronavirus-related deaths and 4,846 new cases in the past 24 hours on Tuesday.
Lockdown in two Natore municipal areas extended by a week
Authorities have extended the ongoing lockdown in the Natore and Singra municipal areas of Natore district by one more week to stem the spread of Covid-19.
A sudden surge in the infection rate, from 20 per cent to a whopping 60 per cent, in recent days, forced the district administration to extend the lockdown in the two municipal areas.
Read:14-day lockdown in Damurhuda to contain Covid spread
The lockdown will remain in force till June 22, said deputy commissioner Mohammad Shahriaz.
Earlier, on June 8, the authorities decided to enforce a week-long lockdown in the two municipal areas from June 9 to contain the spread of Covid-19.
During the lockdown, all modes of public transport will stay off the roads. However, the movement restrictions won't apply on vehicles providing emergency services.
Read: Indefinite lockdown in Magura city and Mohammadpur Upazila from Sunday
Moreover, all shops, markets and restaurants will remain closed, except for grocery stores and pharmacies. This is to allow people to buy their daily essentials and medicines from their local grocers and chemists, respectively.
Amid a desperate bid to procure vaccines for all, Bangladesh on Monday reported 54 fresh coronavirus-related deaths and 3,050 new cases in 24 hours -- both record figures in a month.
Read: Week-long lockdown in Kushtia municipality areas to contain Covid spread
The country last recorded 56 deaths on May 9 and a record 3,031 cases on April 27.
With the new numbers, the country's total caseload and deaths have now reached 8,29,972 and 13,172, respectively, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
Covid-19: 12 patients die at RMCH in a single day
Twelve people including five women died of Covid-19 at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in 24 hours until 8 am on Monday as infections and deaths continue to soar in the frontier districts.
Among them, ten were Covid-19 patients while the rest two died after showing Covid-19 symptoms at the hospital, said director of the hospital Brigadier General Shamim Yeazdani.
Read: Lockdown/Lock-in: Rajshahi taken off rail network to fight surge in infections
Of the deceased, three were from Rajshahi, six from Chapainawabganj, two from Natore and one from Meherpur district.
A total of 137 people have died of Covid in the last 13 days till Monday morning.
Read:16 more Covid patients die at Rajshahi hospital
Forty-four people were admitted to the Corona unit of the hospital in 24 hours till Monday morning and of them, 33 are from Rajshahi, five from Chapainawabganj, two each from Naogaon and Pabna and one each from Natore and Kushtia districts.
Twenty-six people were discharged from the hospial after recovery during the period. 307 people have been undergoing treatment at the hospital against 271 beds at the Corona unit of the hospital.
Read:Covid-19: Strict restrictions imposed in Rajshahi, parts of Khulna, Naogaon
However, the hospital authorities are providing treatment after arranging additional beds, said Shamim. “Only those who need oxygen facilities are being admitted to the hospital due to shortage of beds,” he said.
As the coronavirus situation in Rajshahi kept worsening the district administration imposed a strict lockdown from 5pm on June 4 till June 17 midnight.
Covid-19: Positivity rate now 62% in Natore sadar, municipality
Covid positivity rate in Natore sadar and municipality remained static at 62% in the last 24 hours until Friday morning.
The overall infection rate in the district stood at 53% during the period as 82 people came out Covid positive in 154 sample tests, according to health officials.
Besides, in Singra upazila the infection rate stood at 16%.
Meanwhile hospitals in the district are facing space constraints as the number of patients are increasing alarmingly.
READ: Week-long lockdown in Natore & Singra from Wednesday
Assistant director of Natore Sadar Hospital Paritosh Kumar Ray said the hospital’s coronavirus ward with 31 beds has been extended to yellow zone to treat 39 patients.
Meanwhile, on third day of lockdown in the district to stem the virus spread, local administration is maintaining a strict position installing police check posts in the town’s 12 points to limit movements.
Bangladesh on Thursday registered 36 more coronavirus-related deaths and 2,537 fresh cases in 24 hours, with the Covid situation worsening post the detection of the Delta variant in different parts of the country.
Although district administrations have imposed restrictions in most of the frontier districts to bring the situation under control, the infection and death rates are on the rise.
READ: Probe body formed over sexual assault of college girl in Natore
The latest death toll pushed up the fatalities to 12,949. The Covid-19 death toll crossed the 12,000-mark in Bangladesh on May 11.
With the new cases, the total caseload rose to 8,17,819, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
7 more Covid-19 patients die at RMCH
Seven more Covid patients died in the past 24 hours until Monday morning at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), health officials said on Monday.
Of the deceased, three were from Chapainawabganj district and one each from Rajshahi, Natore, Pabna and Naogaon district.
Read:16 more Covid patients die at Rajshahi hospital
With the fresh deaths, 60 people have died in the Rajshahi division since June 1.
Deputy Director of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, Saiful Ferdous, said, “232 patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital. Of them, 18 are in the ICU."
In the past 24 hours, some 20 people have been admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms.
Read: Covid-19: Strict restrictions imposed in Rajshahi, parts of Khulna, Naogaon
Of them, 16 are from Rajshahi district, three from Chapainawabganj and one from Naogaon district, said sources at the hospital.
Dr. Saiful said 241 people of the three districts came out positive in 605 tests in two labs on Sunday.
Of them, nine people tested positive after test of 44 samples from Chapainawabganj and 35 tested positive after testing 84 samples from Naogaon district.
Read: Nine more Covid patients die at Rajshahi hospital
In Rajshahi, 197 people came out positive after test of 477 samples in two labs in Rajshahi on Saturday night.
The positivity rate in the district declined to 41.29% on Sunday from Saturday’s 50.27% . On Friday, the positivity rate in this district was 49.43%.