Although the government urged people to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr staying at homes so that they remain safe, a good number of people were seen thronging different parks and entertainment spots in the city on Tuesday.

Some of them came to the spots with all of their family members, worrying little about the risk of being infected with coronavirus.

Muslims in Bangladesh celebrated the Holy Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday abiding by the government’s direction.

Ahead of the celebration, the government directed to offer prayer at mosques instead of Eid congregation at Eidgah.

As per the direction, no Eid congregation was held at the National Eidgah in the capital.

President Abdul Hamid offered prayer at the Bangabhaban while other Muslim devotees at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and other mosques across the country.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police issued some instructions and urged the city dwellers to celebrate the festival with family members at home.

They were also advised to refrain from visiting relatives, neighbours and entertainment spots of the city.  

A UNB photographer captured some photos of people roaming at the Suhrawardy Udyan of the capital on Tuesday afternoon.

A teenage girl along with her mother was roaming beside the lake of the Suharawardy Udyan while another teen girl was walking with a child in her lap.

The picture doesn’t support that the city is struggling to combat a highly contagious disease. Here, people were gossiping in groups.

A youth is capturing photo of his friend on his phone beside the lake.

The young boy lost himself in playing ball while his guardian is busy in taking photo of something.

Cabinet secretary, chiefs of three services and Inspector General of Police (IGP) on Tuesday separately paid a courtesy call on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban in the evening.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Abu Mozaffar Mohiuddin Mohammad Aurangzeb Chowdhury, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mashiuzzaman Serniabat and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Benazir Ahmed separately called on him on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

President’s Press Secretary Joynal Abedin briefed reporters after the meeting.

Press secretary Joynal said they conveyed the Eid greetings to the President during the meeting.

“They apprised the President of overall situation of the country regarding the COVID -19 (Coronavirus) outbreak," he said.

They also highlighted their respective activities undertaken to face the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Highly appreciating the role of different quarters to tackle the prevailing crisis, President Hamid hoped that this initiative and joint-effort of all concerned would continue in the days to come to face any tough situation.

President Office’s Secretary Sampad Barua, Military Secretary Major General SM Shamim-uz-Zaman and Press Secretary were,among others, present during the meeting.

Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR)  sent 5,000  viral transport medium (VTM) kits to the Directorate General of Health Services(DGHS) on Tuesday.

The kits were sent to Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general of the DGHS, as per the directive of the science and technology minister. 

The VTM - a solution of salt, protein and antibiotics - is used while collecting samples from the suspected Covid-19 patients.

These kits were developed locally at the laboratory of Designated Reference Institute for Chemical Measurements, a sister institution of the BCSIR under the Science and Technology Ministry.

There are specific guidelines on how to develop the kits from World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control.

Some 152 policemen were found to be infected with coronavirus in the last 24 hours till Tuesday afternoon as the deadly virus continues to spread fast across the country.

With the newly identified ones, the total number of infected policemen rose to 4053.

Sohel Rana, additional inspector general (AIG) (media) of Police Headquarters, confirmed the information saying they were infected while discharging duties. 

Besides, 14 policemen have so far lost their battle against coronavirus while 1,119 made full recovery, he said. 

From the very beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, members of Bangladesh Police and other law enforcement agencies are trying hard to implement the government’s restrictive measures at field level.  

AIG Sohel Rana said various preventive measures were taken to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection among the policemen as per the directive of Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed.

Bangladesh reported the detection of 1,166 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours until Tuesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 36,751.

Also read: Coronavirus: Bangladesh reports 1,166 new cases

Besides, twenty-one Covid-19 patients died during the period, taking the death tally to 522, according to the daily bulletin of of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Cyclone Amphan that battered the country’s coastal districts on Wednesday damaged infrastructures and trees worth Tk 1.67 crore in the Sundarbans’ eastern part.

The forest department sources said Ampan did not cause any damage to the natural forest resources including the Sundari trees and wild animals but destroyed its infrastructures and uprooted some trees planted by the forest department under its forestation programme.

The extent of damage to the eastern part of the Sundarbans by Ampan has been estimated at Tk 1.67crore, said divisional forest officer Mohammad Belayet Hossain of Sundarbans East Division, on Tuesday after receiving the report of the committee formed to assess the extent of damages.

Ten rain trees, 2 palm trees, 5 coconut trees, seven Jhau trees, 1 banyan tree and 1 Krishnachura tree have been damaged in the eastern part of the Sundarbans due to the cyclone, he said.

Some infrastructures  including 18 jetties, 24 office and staff barracks, 1255 meters road, 8 gangway platoons, 1 watch tower, 2 foot trails, 16 water tanks, 1 deer cage, 1 public toilet, 1 RCC bench transfer 1 and two warehouses were damaged.

Besides, 1,124 cubic feet of Sundori trees seized at different times have been washed away by tidal surge.

The DFO said  four separate committees were formed to assess the damages caused by the cyclone.

According to the report of the committee, the cyclone damaged infrastructures worth Tk 1.60 crore while  trees worth 7.61 lakh.

Cyclone ‘Amphan’ left a trail of devastation when it hit Bangladesh’s coastal districts with wind speed of up to 180kph and over 10 feet tidal surges on Wednesday night.

It killed 10 people and inflicted heavy damage to lives, livelihood, agriculture, infrastructures, environment, as well as the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans, in southwestern region of the country.

An initial estimate suggested that the damage caused by the cyclone runs into hundreds of crores of taka. It is feared that the cyclone could threaten Bangladesh’s fight against coronavirus and create climate refugees.