Bangladesh
Bank transaction hours from 10 am to 2:30 pm until May 30
Banks’ transaction hours have been raised by half an hour as they will now operate from 10 am to 2:30 pm from May 24 to until May 30.
Bangladesh Bank issued a circular on Sunday for all the banks in compliance with the Cabinet Division’s latest directives on the countrywide lockdown to contain Coronavirus transmission.
The banks can keep open offices until 4 pm to do their necessary activities, said the BB circular.
Read:Bangladesh extends lockdown until May 30
Currently, banks have been operating transactions from 10 am to 2 pm while in the normal situation they operate from 10 pm to 4 pm.
The BB circular said all other instructions will remain unchanged as per the circular of April 13.
In that circular it said banks can keep one non-AD branch open within 2km radius in the city corporation areas and at upazila level one branch of each bank can remain open on Thursday, Sunday and Tuesday.
Banks have to take measures to provide transport facilities for the staff during the period.
The BB circular said during the banking transaction hours, banks have to ensure different kinds of services including clearing of cheques, withdrawal and deposits of money, money transfer, the release of remittance, encashment of different instruments and also receipt of the payments of bills of different utilities.
BB said banks have to continue services like disbursement of loans, incentives, payment of salaries of different industries and also the purchase of export bills, loan sanction and distribution.
Read:Bank-Company (Amendment) Bill 2021 draft gets Cabinet nod
Banks have to follow instructions in keeping the branches located in the port areas in discussion with the local administration and other authorities, as per the circular issued on August 5 last year, it said.
Banks have to operate with limited staff under a roster system.
They have to ensure operation of ATM booths to facilitate transaction through cards by supplying adequate cash in the machines while the evening banking and weekly holiday banking activities will remain closed until further order, said the circular issued on April 13.
17 India returnees test positive for Covid-19
Seventeen Bangladeshis, who returned home from India through Benapole land port from April 26 to May 22, have tested positive for Covid-19.
Some 3,444 Bangladeshis have returned home from India from April 26 to May 22 after obtaining a 'no-objection certificate' from the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh.
Earlier, the government closed border with India keeping only movement of cargoes uninterrupted amid worsening Covid situation in India.
Read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive
Many Bangladeshi citizens are returning home through the Benapole land port with special permission.
Of them, 17 returnees tested positive for Covid-19.
Dr Utpala Roy, Medical officer of Benapole Immigration, said on Saturday 94 Bangladeshis returned home from India and they have been kept at Jashore Gazir Darga Madrasha and other different quarantine centres for 14-day mandatory quarantine.
If they test negative for Covid-19 they will be released later, he said.
Read: 206 India returnees put in 14-day quarantine in Cumilla
However, those who have tested positive have been kept at the red zone of Corona Unit.
According to the World Health Organisation, the Indian variant has already spread to 60 countries across the world.
The Bangladeshi citizens currently travelling to India for treatment and having visas with validity for less than 15 days could enter Bangladesh only through Benapole, Akhaura and Burimari after taking permission from Bangladesh diplomatic missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala and with a mandatory Covid-negative certificates done through PCR test within 72 hours of entry.
Bangladesh bat first in series opener vs Sri Lanka
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal won the toss and opted to bat first in the three-match ODI series opener against Sri Lanka on Sunday at Mirpur.
Hours before the match takes the field, the Sri Lanka squad went through a Covid-19 scare. Three members of the Lankan squad tested positive for Covid-19 including two cricketers but the latest PCR test revealed only one of them is positive.
Read:Sri Lankan player Shiran Fernando tests positive for Covid-19 in latest test
This series is a part of the World Cup Super League. Bangladesh has already played six matches of this event and won three of them. The top seven teams of this event will get a direct qualification to the World Cup 2023.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played three matches of the World Cup Super League and lost all.
With this series, Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman are back to the Bangladesh side after missing out on the Sri Lanka tour for a two-match Test series.
The remaining matches will take place on May 25 and 28 respectively at the same venue.
Read:Bangladesh and Sri Lanka all set to face off in an ODI Series
Bangladesh playing XI: Tamim Iqbal (c), Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (w), Mohammad Mithun, Mhamudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman
Sri Lanka playing XI: Kusal Perera(w/c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Ashen Bandara, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Lakshan Sandakan, Dushmantha Chameera
Another cyclone coming, alerts PM Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged all to remain alert as cyclone ‘Yaas’ may hit Bangladesh in a couple of days.
"Another cyclone is coming, it’s just forming now (in the bay)," she said.
The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating as well as laying the foundation stones of 225 facilities of the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry.
Read:Cyclone Yash: Thrice the usual number of shelters being prepared due to Covid
The programme was held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium and the Prime Minister joined it virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Of the total facilities, 110 are Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters, 30 Flood Shelters, 30 District Relief and Disaster Management Information Centers and 5 Mujib Killas.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of 50 Mujib Killas across the country.
Sheikh Hasina said: "We’ve already started taking adequate precautionary measures [to face the cyclone]. Inshallah, we’ll remain cautious, we’ll be able to reduce risks."
According to the meteorological office, a low-pressure area is brewing over the north Andaman Sea and the adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal, which could intensify into a cyclonic storm.
The storm is then likely to move north-westwards and reach the Odisha-West Bengal-Khulna coast around May 26 (Wednesday), according to the weather department.
Read:PM to inaugurate 140 cyclone and flood centres on Sunday, says minister
Meanwhile, the government has prepared cyclone centres three times more than what was required in compliance with health guidelines, keeping in mind the coronavirus situation, to provide shelter to coastal people if Cyclone Yaas hits Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh has to face various types of natural calamities like cyclone and flood due to its geographical location. "Sometimes manmade disasters also hit Bangladesh. We’ve to move on tackling all this. We’re moving one and we’ll keep on moving.”
Hasina said the government had taken numerous steps to face difficulties during every calamity and put emphasis on averting any possible loss of human lives.
Regarding deaths in thunderbolt strikes, the Prime Minister said once people used to plant palm-trees near their houses and that saved human lives naturally from thunderbolts.
"Once people had forgotten that. Now that sense of necessity (planting palm trees) has returned," she said, mentioning that the government has taken all-out efforts to save people from any calamity.
Read: Cyclone brewing over Andaman Sea 'may hit Bangladesh coast'
Talking about the future generations, she said the government has taken the Delta Plan 2100 to make Bangladesh a developed country from the developing one.
A video on the contributions of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was also screened at the programme.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Mohammad Enamur Rahman, Secretary of the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry Mohammad Mohsin also spoke at the programme.
Bangladesh extends lockdown until May 30
The government has extended the ongoing lockdown by another week until May 30 allowing public buses to run at half of their capacities considering the current coronavirus situation in the country.
The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard on Sunday.
All concerned, including passengers, will have to maintain health protocols like wearing masks, says the circular.
Besides, hotels and restaurants will be allowed to keep open with half of half of their capacities.
Read:Strict lockdown imposed in Teknaf and five Rohingya camps
The authorities concerned have been asked to take necessary steps in this regard.
As coronavirus cases kept growing at an alarming rate since mid-March, the government had imposed a ‘loose’ nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 as part of its move to contain its spread.
Later, a ‘stricter’ lockdown was announced from April 14 to 21. Then the lockdown was extended several times considering the situation.
On April 23, the Cabinet Division issued a notice allowing shops and shopping malls to operate from April 25 (10am-5pm) on a condition that they would maintain safety protocols properly.
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 38 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours till Saturday morning, taking the country's fatalities to 12,348.
The daily infection rate rose to 8.41% from Friday's 7.22%, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
Meanwhile, 1,028 new cases were reported after testing 12,230 samples.
Read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive
Bangladesh reported 26 deaths on Friday after logging around 30 deaths for consecutive four days.
The fatality rate rose to 1.57% after remaining static at 1.56% for six days.
The recovery rate stood at 92.65% as 759 people recovered in the last 24 hours. The overall recovery number is 729,798 till date.
Bangladesh has so far reported 787,726 coronavirus cases.
Sri Lankan player Shiran Fernando tests positive for Covid-19 in latest test
In a latest Covid-19 Test, Sri Lankan cricketer Shiran Fernando tested positive for Covid-19 while Isuru Udana and Chaminda Vaas, who tested positive earlier, returned negative.
Jalal Younus, the chair of the media and communication committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), confirmed that the series will go on as per the schedule.
Read:Bangladesh and Sri Lanka all set to face off in an ODI Series
Along with these three, Bangladesh’s media manager Rabeed Imam also tested positive in the second latest test but returned negative in the latest test.
“The series is on and everything will go as per the schedule,” Jalal told the media. “There is no doubt about the series. Who returned positive will remain in isolation now.”
The first ODI of the series is set to begin at 1pm today while the others are scheduled to take place on May 25 and 28 respectively.
Ready to stand with Bangladesh, S Asian countries to defeat pandemic: China
China has said it will continue to support Bangladesh's fight against COVID-19 and is willing to facilitate the discussion of cooperation in "vaccine filling" between Chinese and Bangladeshi companies.
China also said as a "good neighbour, partner and friend" of South Asian countries, it is ready to stand with the people of all countries, including Bangladesh, until the coronavirus pandemic is defeated.
"South Asia is currently facing the severe challenges of a new round of pandemic," said State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi when he had a phone conversation with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Friday evening.
Wang Yi said that the COVID-19 pandemic is the common enemy of humanity.
There is a greater need for neighbouring countries to render mutual assistance and overcome adversities, he said.
Read: Covid vaccine: China to send additional 6 lakh doses as gift
Wang Yi said that in March this year, President Xi Jinping sent a video message to an event hosted by Bangladesh in commemoration of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and also in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the country's independence, which injected strong impetus to the development of China-Bangladesh relations.
The Chinese Foreign Minister said the two countries have always firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests.
"China will continue to support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bangladesh," he said.
Wang Yi hoped that the two countries will earnestly advance the Belt and Road cooperation, ensure early completion of key projects, expand cooperation in the fields of information, communication and digital economy, and create new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Bangladesh.
Dr Momen extended congratulations on the successful Mars landing of China's probe, and his gratitude for China's invaluable support and strong assistance in Bangladesh's fight against the pandemic.
He said that Bangladesh will always adhere to the one-China principle, and continue to staunchly support China on the issues concerning Hong Kong, Taiwan and human rights.
Read: More countries approached for vaccines; talks with China at final stage: FM
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in pandemic control and economic recovery, and push the Bangladesh-China strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.
He also highly appreciated China's positive role on the question of Palestine recently.
Covid-19: Bangladesh sees rise in deaths as cases fall
Bangladesh logged 38 more coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours till Saturday morning, taking the country's fatalities to 12,348.
The daily infection rate rose to 8.41% from Friday's 7.22%, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
Meanwhile, 1,028 new cases were reported after testing 12,230 samples.
Bangladesh reported 26 deaths on Friday after logging around 30 deaths for consecutive four days.
The fatality rate rose to 1.57% after remaining static at 1.56% for six days.
The recovery rate stood at 92.65% as 759 people recovered in the last 24 hours. The overall recovery number is 729,798 till date.
Bangladesh has so far reported 787,726 coronavirus cases
The country has carried out 5,805,407 sample tests since reporting its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18, 2020.
Read: India suffers double blow as black fungus declared epidemic amid COVID-19 surge
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The administration of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
In the past 24 hours, no one received the first dose of the vaccine while 41,467 have received the second dose, said the health directorate.
Vaccine supply update
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen Friday reached out to global media to let the world know that Bangladesh is desperately looking for vaccines and ready to accept any shipment from any country.
"A large number of people in Bangladesh, who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca, could not get the second dose because we have run out of supplies," the minister said.
Paying heed to Bangladesh’s request, China on Friday said it will send the second batch of 600,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine as gift.
The foreign minister on Thursday said the government was making its best efforts to get vaccines from multiple countries – the US, China, Canada, Russia and the UK – apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs.
Bangladesh received 500,000 doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine as a gift on May 12. The administering of the shots will begin by May 25-26, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
Also, the country would receive a minimum of 106,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine under the COVAX scheme, co-led by Gavi, Maleque said May 18.
Besides, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Services Division to import the Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine.
Bangladesh reaches out to int'l media as it seeks vaccines desperately
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday reached out to the global media to let the world know that Bangladesh looks for vaccines desperately and is ready to accept any shipment desperately from any country, including the United States.
"We need it desperately. If any shipment comes, we’ll take it right away," he told CNN in a live interview.
Dr Momen said the big problem is that a large number of people in Bangladesh who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca could not take the second dose.
"Because we don't have any more. We can't give them the second dose. That’s creating a lot of problems for us," said the Foreign Minister.
Read: More countries approached for vaccines; talks with China at final stage: FM
He said the government of Bangladesh is trying to get vaccines from other places and they were delighted when Bangladesh heard that the US will be distributing some of the AstraZeneca vaccines that they have.
Dr Momen said he had requested the US government and sent a letter to his counterpart US Secretary of State. "They agreed to give us by and large."
Now the problem is, he said, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a long time to approve the export of AstraZeneca.
Dr Momen said they are thankful to US President Joe Biden for announcing that the USA will be distributing some of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses to developing countries, pretty large numbers - 60 million plus 20 around - 80 million doses. "This is good news for us."
Exploring Multiple Options
On Thursday, Dr Momen said the government is giving its best efforts to get vaccines connecting multiple countries - the United States, China, Canada, Russia and the UK apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs.
He said the discussion with China is almost at the final stage while they are expecting a positive reply from the US on the vaccine front.
While talking to reporters at State guesthouse Padma, Dr Momen said there are people who could not take the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to short supply from India.
He also highlighted the ongoing discussion with Russia. "Hope, everything will be settled within a week."
Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister said they came to know unofficially that Bangladesh is not in the priority list of the USA as there is a lesser number of deaths in Bangladesh.
"I didn't like the idea. They (US) don't think it's a crisis in Bangladesh," he said, adding that it is an emergency issue for Bangladesh.
US State Department Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security Gayle E. Smith has said the United States is going to be the largest sharer of vaccine jabs putting 80 million additional vaccine doses into the mix.
"I can’t tell you at this point what the allocation is going to be per country. We’ll have information for you later on. And as I think I mentioned, we are also, with respect to India and also India’s neighbors, mounting an emergency humanitarian response given the surges that are ongoing there," she said.
In a telephonic media briefing on Wednesday, Smith referred to an announcement by US President Joe Biden earlier this week that they will be sharing 20 million vaccine doses from their own stocks in addition to the 60 million AstraZeneca doses that were announced previously by the President.
"So that means we’re going to be putting 80 million additional vaccines into the mix, making us the largest sharer of vaccine doses thus far," she said.
Read:S Korean envoy shares historical documents with FM Momen
The US official said given the surge there, India has been a major priority for the US. "We’ve delivered $100 million in emergency assistance; mobilised with the American private sector a pretty amazing response, again, from the American private sector and public, and we’ll continue to do so."
Smith said she does not have anything to say yet on the ultimate allocations, but they will reach out and make sure that all are informed when those decisions are made.
Responding to a question on India, Dr Momen said India did never say that they will not give vaccine doses to Bangladesh but failed to deliver.
He said India was requested to provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh as a gift to meet its emergency need if India has an embargo on export.
"I should say we had a very positive discussion (with my Indian counterpart," Dr Momen said.
Bangladesh loses 26 more lives to Covid, toll reaches 12,310
Bangladesh lost 26 more lives in the second wave of Covid in 24 hours till Friday morning, taking the country's fatalities to 12,310.
The daily infection rate rose to 8.22% from Thursday's 7.50%, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
Meanwhile, 1,504 people came out positive in 18,294 tests carried out over the same period, pushing the country's caseload to 786,698.
"The fatality number, recorded so far, is lower compared to the number of positive cases. This warrants conduction of genomic sequencing to see if any new but less virulent variant is in the offing," Dr AM Zakir Hussain, former director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, told UNB.
Meanwhile, the fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.56% and the recovery rate stood at 92.67%.
Read: 3 India returnees test positive for Covid in Magura
So far, the country has carried out 5,793,177 sample tests since reporting its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The administration of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
Vaccine supply update
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen Friday reached out to global media to let the world know that Bangladesh is desperately looking for vaccines and ready to accept any shipment from any country including the US.
"A large number of people in Bangladesh, who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca, could not get the second dose because we have run out of supplies," the minister said.
Also, Dr Momen said he had requested the US government and sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"They agreed to give us vaccine. However, the US Food and Drug Administration is taking much time to approve the export of AstraZeneca," he said.
Read:Bangladesh reaches out to int'l media as it seeks vaccines desperately
The minister Thursday said the government was making its best efforts to get vaccines from multiple countries – the US, China, Canada, Russia and the UK – apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs.
Bangladesh received 5 lakh China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses as a gift on May 12. The administering of the shots will begin by May 25-26, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
Also, the country would receive a minimum of 106,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine under the COVAX scheme, co-led by Gavi on June 2, Zahid Maleque said Tuesday.
Besides, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Services Division to import the Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine.