The 2021-22 admission test for the country's medical colleges was held on Friday. The test was held at a total of 57 venues in 19 centers across the country, including the capital from 10 am to 11 am. Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque inspected the examination centre at Arts Building of Dhaka University at 10 am. Read: HC: Only MBBS, BDS holders can use 'Dr' before their names After the inspection, the minister said that enough preparations were taken to prevent any leakage of question. The high alert will remain until publication of results. Some people tried to spread rumors through social media about the leakage of question papers by creating fake question papers. Two people were also arrested earlier in this connection, he added. This year, a total of 1,43,915 students sat for the exam, against 4,350 seats available. Among them, 61,678 candidates participated in Dhaka city only.

The Medical Colleges (Governing Bodies) (Repeal), Bill 2021 was passed in Parliament on Wednesday. Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque moved the Bill and it was passed by voice vote. Read: Electricity Supply Act to get time extension, Bill placed The new law will abolish the Medical Colleges (Governing Bodies) Ordinance 1961. As per the objective of the Bill, the ordinance has no effectiveness since some other laws have been enacted for medical education in Bangladesh.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque has lauded the collaborative efforts between Bangladesh and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in improving the disease surveillance of Bangladesh. He hoped that through this cooperation, Bangladesh would be able to control virus-borne communicable diseases and produce vaccines domestically and supply to the global market. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) held a ceremony at its headquarters, welcoming Bangladesh’s accession to the IVI.  Read: Vaccine institute in Bangladesh can be a gamechanger for its economy: Experts Representatives of the Government of Bangladesh, members of the diplomatic community in Seoul, and representatives of the IVI member states attended the event. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam expressed gratitude to the IVI for supporting and facilitating the accession process of Bangladesh and for providing assistance to the country through vaccine research and development, vaccine technology transfer, research and capacity-building collaboration.  He hoped that Bangladesh’s new role as a state party to the IVI would further expand and consolidate cooperation between Bangladesh and IVI in the days ahead. Bangladesh Ambassador to South Korea Abida Islam attended the ceremony in person and raised Bangladesh’s flag at the IVI Headquarters in the presence of IVI Director-General Dr Jerome Kim and others. Abdul Muktadir, Chairman and Managing Director of the Incepta Vaccine Ltd, and Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, virtually participated in the event. Chairperson of IVI’s Board of Trustees, George Bickerstaff welcomed Bangladesh’s ratification of the IVI Establishment Agreement, becoming one of the state parties to the IVI.  Read:Dhaka thanks Beijing for vaccine supply during difficult time

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday urged all to refrain from doing politics, spreading rumours over vaccine.

The number of global coronavirus cases rose close to 46 million on Sunday, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.   In the morning, the total caseload stood at 45,960,780 with 1,193,859 fatalities.   The US is the worst-hit country with 9,116,186 cases and 230,345 deaths, according to the data.   The United States reported nearly 100,000 Covid-19 cases on Friday, setting the highest single-day number of cases recorded around the world.   India comes in second place in terms of cases (8,137,119), while the country's death toll soared to 121,641.   Brazil currently ranks second in terms of Covid-19 deaths, behind the United States, and third in the number of cases, after the US and India.   Brazil registered 508 deaths in the last 24 hours from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to 159,884, the Ministry of Health said Saturday.   Meanwhile, 22,282 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded, bringing the total to 5,535,605.   Besides, 21,915 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,011,660, according to official figures released Saturday.   Coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 326 to 46,555, the data showed.   British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a four-week nationwide lockdown as the numbers kept soaring.   The government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has warned that COVID-19 was spreading significantly faster in Britain than its worst-case scenarios.   Bangladesh’s coronavirus situation

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has directed his ministry’s secretary and the director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to take immediate action regarding a dress code notice issued by the Institute of Public Health (IPH) for Muslim employees.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday stated that 60 percent Coronavirus dedicated beds in hospitals are still vacant due to proper measures taken by the government during the pandemic.

Mentioning that some 14,000 beds have been designated for Covid patients in the country’s hospitals, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said 40 percent of those are still vacant.

No coronavirus case has yet been detected in Bangladesh which is good for the country, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday.

Mentioning that there is no coronavirus case in Bangladesh yet, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said the government is fully ready to combat the new virus.