COVID situation
4 more die as Covid fatalities fluctuate in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged four more Covid-linked deaths with 370 fresh infections in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
With the detection of the fresh cases after testing 15,074 samples, the daily-case positivity rate slightly declined to 2.43 per cent from Friday’s 2.74 per cent during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers reported on Saturday took the country’s total fatalities to 28,076 while the caseload mounted to 15,85,909.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate declined to 97.69 per cent with the recovery of 203 more patients during the 24-hour period.
READ: Booster doses for health workers from Sunday: Dhaka Civil Surgeon
Bangladesh reported daily covid cases above 500 after two months. On October 13, the country logged 518 new Covid cases with 17 deaths.
Meanwhile, three more Covid cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Bangladesh, raising the total tally to seven, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data, shared the results on Wednesday.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
READ: Booster at least 80% effective against severe Omicron
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Still unsure about dropped out students’ number: Dipu Moni
The number of students dropped out during the Covid-forced closure of schools could not be ascertained yet, said Education Minister Dipu Moni.
“We’re receiving assignments from over 90 per cent of students. That means they’ve not dropped out. Many parents are still not sending their children to schools out of fear and so the presence of students in schools is not cent percent,” she said.
The minister said while speaking at a programme at Shilpakal Academy in the town marking the Community Policing Day.
The number of students in schools will increase if the Covid situation improves further and schools will be buzz with their presence, she said.
Also read: Schools, colleges that’ll see infection surge to be shut: Dipu Moni
During the closure of schools many girl students were married off, she said, adding” We’ve instructed teachers to take steps to bring back those students to schools.”
80 lakh people to be vaccinated on PM’s birthday
Eighty lakh people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday under another phase of mass vaccination campaign, marking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s birthday.
“Another mass vaccination campaign will resume Tuesday. Eighty lakh people will be brought under the vaccination programme on the day on the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s birthday,” said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday at a virtual briefing.
Read:Dhaka to receive another 25 lakh Pfizer vaccine doses Monday
The vaccine jabs will be administered from 9 am at 6,000 centres across the country, he said adding that in the first two hours women above 50 years and physically-challenged people will get the jabs on priority basis.
People will be given vaccine shots at the centers to be set up at 4,600 unions and 433 wards of 1054 municipalities and city corporations. “There’ll be three booths at union level, one at municipality level and three at city corporation level centres.”
Those who have got registered for vaccination but failed to get it timely will get priority during this campaign, said the minister.
PEC exam likely in November or December: State Minister
The Primary Education Completion (PEC) examination will be held either in November or December if the Covid situation improves, said State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Ministry Md Zakir Hossain.
“As per the directives of the government, the students of class V will regularly attend their classes and the PEC exam will be held at the end of November or in the first week of December if the Covid situation improves,” he said at a press briefing at the Secretariat.
Read: Educational institutions being prepared for reopening Sep 12
Replying to a question, Zakir said, “The exam will be held on short syllabus and we have provided a syllabus on it. We have a recovery plan also.”
Besides, the government is thinking about taking the annual exams, he said.
Bangladesh set to reopen schools
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said that the country's educational institutions will be ready to host students by September 9, before finally reopening three days later - bringing to an end what Unicef has called the world's second-longest schools closure due to Covid-19.
“Ministry officials will complete field inspections within Sep 9 to observe whether the institutions are fully prepared to open their doors for students,” she said while speaking to the press after an inter-ministerial meeting at the cabinet division on Sunday.
Read: UNICEF welcomes Bangladesh’s decision on reopening schools
“No one will be allowed entry to school and colleges without a mask after reopening. The parents will have to play a vital role in this,” she added.
The decision to reopen all the primary, secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions on September 12 was finalised at the meeting.
All medical colleges in Bangladesh to reopen in phases from Sept 13
All state-run and private medical colleges in Bangladesh will reopen from September 13 in a staggered manner, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Thursday.
The decision to resume classroom teaching has been taken by the government in view of the improving Covid-19 situation in the country, the Minister told reporters after a meeting at the Secretariat.
Read: Steps underway to reopen educational institutions: Hasina
“We have decided to resume classes at all medical institutions, including government, private, Delta and nursing colleges, from September 13. It may defer by a day or two but eventually all medical institutions will be opened in a phased way,” he said.
“The authorities concerned have taken all preparations for the resumption of physical classes and the teachers and students have also been covered under the nation-wide vaccination programme,” Zahid said.
There are 1.5 lakh medical students in the country and they have all been asked to attend classes following all Covid-safety protocols, he added. "However, the decision could change considering the Covid situation in the country at the time."
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government was taking all necessary measures to reopen educational institutions in the country at the earliest.
“We’ve been able to control the coronavirus to a large extent. There’s no more problem regarding vaccines… I’ve already directed (the authorities concerned) to reopen schools and colleges soon,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this when she joined a discussion over a motion placed in Parliament to condole the death of Awami League MP Hasibur Rahman Swapan (Sirajganj-6).
Read: Meeting on reopening educational institutions Sunday
The government on August 26 again extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions until September 11 considering the Covid-19 situation in the country.
The government shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020, days after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases. The closure was extended several times, most recently until August 31.
BNP attributes Covid disaster to govt’s overreliance on bureaucrats
BNP on Monday alleged that the government has failed to tackle the Covid situation in the country due to its 'overdependence’ on bureaucrats.
“The government has completely failed to contain the coronavirus infection and it has put people’s lives and livelihoods in jeopardy,” said party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Speaking at a virtual discussion, he also said their party has been calling upon the government since the beginning of the Covid outbreak to hold a national convention and form a national committee at all levels comprising all political parties, experts, social organisations and NGOs to tackle the situation with united efforts by involving people.
Read:Mismanagement, politicization made vaccination drive a complete mess: BNP
“It's unfortunate that this government didn’t pay heed to it. They’ve relied only on bureaucrats to create such a terrible corona situation. It can be called a complete mess because of politicisation, political meanness, and corruption,” the BNP leader observed.
The virtual programme was arranged by the family members of BNP Chairperson’s late adviser Fazlur Rahman Patal, marking his fifth death anniversary. Patal, a former state minister for youth and sports, died at an Indian hospital on August 11, 2016, at the age of 65.
Fakhrul said the country has probably been witnessing the worst Covid situation as the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus has spread all over the country, including the rural areas.
He said the government did not take proper steps to prevent the spread of the virus to rural areas from cities despite repeated warnings. “They took time to seal the border. That’s why, the Delta variant of the Covid pandemic spread all over the country.”
The BNP leader said the government is hardly concerned about people’s lives and livelihoods as its main focus is on creating scopes for ruling party leaders to plunder public money.
He also accused the government of mocking people by enforcing ‘unplanned’ lockdowns and ‘unjustified restrictions’, badly affecting the normal public life.
The BNP leader also said the government has destroyed the economy delaying plans and actions to overcome the fallout of the pandemic. “They did nothing, except plundering public money. We clearly see that the GDP growth is decreasing gradually, but the government is lying about it. It wants to show an inflated GDP growth by force.”
Read:Reopen educational institutions with rigid health protocols: BNP
He said the trade, imports and production are also declining alongside the GDP. “But they’re not paying any attention to it.”
Fakhrul also said around two crore people have fallen below the poverty line afresh while many others, including day-labourers, rickshaw- and van-pullers, farm labourers, hawkers, small shop workers and those involved in the informal sector, have become unemployed.
Later, the BNP secretary general inaugurated a makeshift healthcare centre set up at Bagatipara in Natore under the supervision of the Patal’s wife Kamrunnahar Shirin and her children.
Govt may impose tough lockdown if situation deteriorates: Quader
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday said that the strict lockdown has been relaxed for the sake people’s lives and livelihoods, but it may be re-imposed if Covid situation worsens.
He was speaking at the signing of an agreement between the Department of Roads and Highways (DRH) and a construction company at the DRH office.
Read: Begum Mujib was a co-fighter of Bangabandhu, says Quader
Quader said the fare in the public transport will be the same as before the pandemic and not the recently increased fare as they will run on full passenger capacity.
The minister said both passengers and bus workers must follow hygiene and health rules and wear masks. He urged the BRTA to take necessary steps in this regard.
He urged the engineers to maintain quality in road construction. He also called for restoring discipline on roads and highways.
Quader, also the general secretary of Awami League, trashed BNP’s criticism of government’s mass vaccination campaign.
The people have responded spontaneously to the vaccination, he said adding this is causing heartburns of BNP leaders.
Read: History has forgotten those who tried to erase Bangabandhu, says Quader
He urged the BNP to learn from the welfare-oriented politics of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her deep commitment to the people. However, the truth is that this party has never learnt from history, he said.
Secretary of Roads and Highways Department Nazrul Islam, Chief Engineer of Roads and Highways Department, Project Director of the project Abdullah Al Mamun and other officials of the construction company were present at the signing ceremony.
Dhaka finds new normal amid lockdown, arrests
As the ‘strict’ lockdown rolled into its 5th straight day on Tuesday, the streets in capital Dhaka saw a higher number of private vehicles with people trying to pick up the social life amid the worsening Covid situation.
When the restrictions were reimposed just after Eid-ul-Azha, the roads in the capital had fallen silent in the first few days. Part of it was the fact that many had retreated to their home districts or villages for Eid holiday, and were yet to return.
But now things are changing fast with every passing day as the roads are becoming busier with the bustle of vehicles with many people returning to Dhaka defying the Covid restrictions and warnings by health authorities.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Tuesday arrested 555 people in the capital - maintaining the level from the previous two days and the traffic police department fined 497 vehicles a total of Tk 11,73,000 for violating lockdown rules.
Meanwhile, 236 people across the city were fined Tk 4,83,975 by mobile court for not following health guidelines and restrictions.
Sylhet-3 by-election postponed until Aug 5
The High Court on Monday stayed the by-election to Sylhet-3 constituency till August 5 due to the worsening Covid situation in the country.
The virtual HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order following a writ petition filed over the election.
Read:Sylhet Regional Election Officer dies of Covid
The election was scheduled to be held on July28.
Earlier in the morning , Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir, on behalf of six Supreme Court lawyers and seven local voters, including Saleh Ahmed, filed the writ petition seeking stay of the polls.
Read: Sylhet scenario as strict lockdown resumes
Besides, a legal notice was issued to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Sunday to suspend voting in the polls.
The Sylhet-3 constituency fell vacant after MP Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury died of coronavirus on March 11.
Bangladesh loses 187 more lives as Covid situation remains girm
Bangladesh reported 187 more Covid-19-related deaths in 24 hours until Thursday morning as the vaccination drive failed to gather pace.
The virus also infected 3,697 others during the period as Bangladesh observed the last day with the lockdown rules relaxed.
With the fresh figures, the total caseload from Covid stands at 11,40,200 while the death toll rose to 18,685, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country saw 200+ Covid-related deaths for the last two weeks on average.
Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 231 on Monday.
The new cases were reported after testing 11, 486 samples. The case positivity rate increased to 32.19 % from Wednesday’s 30.48% %, said the DGHS.
Read: 22 more die of Covid at Rajshahi hospital
Meanwhile, the country’s fatality rate increased slightly to 1.64%.
So far, 9,69,610 people have recovered from the disease, taking the recovery rate to 85.04%
Dhaka division reported 75 of the deaths while Khulna saw 44 and Chattogram 23 deaths. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, 10 in Rajshahi, 11 in Barishal, five in Mymensingh and four in Sylhet divisions.
Of the deaths, one was within 11-20 years of age; four were within 21-30; 20 between 31-40, 12 between 41-50; 49 between 51-60; 64 were between 61-70 years; 27 were between 71-80 years; eight between 81-90, and two were between 91-100 years of age.
With over 4,000 deaths so far, July looks to be the most fatal month since the country saw its fast Covid cases in March, 2020.
Earlier, the country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June.
Read: Khulna division sees 40 new Covid deaths
Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Hospitals are now overwhelmed with patients and struggling to cope with the country’s devastating second wave of Covid infections, driven by the Delta variant.
Upping its guard against the devastating Delta variant of Covid-19, the Bangladesh government on Thursday announced the resumption of the countrywide strict lockdown from July 23.
The restrictions are to come into force at 8am on July 23 and will continue till August 5 midnight, unless extended again.