Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Friday said leaders and activists of the ruling AwamiLeague were infected with coronavirus as they are working for the people at the field level.

He made the remark while talking to reporters at the party president’s political office at Dhanmondi, after attending a prayer session seeking forgiveness of the departed souls of those who lost their battle against coronavirus and speedy recovery of the infected activists.  

“Awami League leaders and activists, cabinet members, parliamentarians and public representative at different levels got infected with coronavirus while working for the people,” he said.

The minister noted that Awami League leaders and activists have been conducting relief distribution activities since the outbreak of coronavirus responding to the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

When his attention was drawn to less infection rate among BNP leaders and activists, Dr Hasan Mahmud said BNP leaders restricted their activities to indoor press briefing and photo sessions instead of standing beside the people. “That’s why they are less likely to be infected with the virus,” he added.

Responding to BNP’s allegation over ‘collapsed healthcare system’, Minister Hasan said Bangladesh is still one of the countries with less mortality rate from coronavirus.

He requested BNP leaders to stand beside people instead of delivering unwise speech.

Bangladesh Awami League presidium members Matia Chowdhury, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, among others, attended the prayer session while party General Secretary Obaidul Quader joined through a video conference.

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A remarkable number of leaders of the ruling party, including Former Health Minister Md Nasim, State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Md Abdullah and former mayor of Sylhet City Corporation Badruddin Ahmed Kamran, have died from coronavirus.

On Friday, Bangladesh saw another 45 deaths from coronavirus that took the total death toll to 1,388.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 patients also surged to 105,537 as the health authorities confirmed the detection of 3,243 new cases across the country on the day.

Also read: Coronavirus in Bangladesh: 3,243 new cases, 45 more die