COVID-19
10-year-old India returnee tests positive for Covid in Jashore
A 10-year-old boy, who returned from India with his mother and maternal uncle on May 5, has tested positive for Covid-19.
The child, a cancer patient, was admitted to the dedicated Covid care facility at Jahsore General Hospital on Wednesday night, said Sharsha Upazila Health officer Dr Yusuf Ali.
Read:11 more India returnees test positive for Covid-19
The boy had gone to India for treatment, along with his mother and maternal uncle. On May 5, the trio returned home through Benapole Port and were sent to Jashore Quarantine Centre.
"Following government directives, the samples of the three were sent for testing and the report came on Wednesday night. Only the boy has tested positive for Covid-19," said Sheikh Abu Shahin, Jashore Civil Surgeon.
Meanwhile the 14-day mandatory quarantine period of the family is now over and the local administration has provided a release order to the boy’s mother and uncle.
As India has been experiencing a new strain of Covid-19, the government imposed restrictions along the border areas of Bangladesh. According to the World Health Organisation, the Indian variant has already spread to 60 countries across the world.
Read:36 India returnees sent to Cumilla for institutional quarantine
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 certificate.
Global Covid cases approach 165 million
The Covid-19 situation is worsening around the world with each passing the day, despite mass vaccinations. In fact, the total global corona caseload is fast approaching 165 million.
The total cases and fatalities reached 164,610,815 and 3, 412,920, respectively, on Thursday morning, as per the latest data released by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, some 1,535,026, 536 vaccine doses have been administered around the world, according to the university.
The Covid-19 cases in the US, the worst-hit country in the world, exceeded 33 million on Thursday. The total caseload and deaths in the country now stand at 32,026,131 and 587,858, respectively, as per JHU.
Read: India’s Covid-19 hot spots on recovery road
India has been experiencing a precarious situation of handling the Covid-19 situation as the country has registered 25,496,330 cases with 283,248 deaths to date.
Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest caseload, following the United States and India.
The country has logged 15,812,055 cases and 441,691 deaths, as of Thursday.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Wednesday reported 37 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours, taking the national count to 12,248. The mortality rate though remains static at 1.56%.
Besides, the country saw 1,608 new cases as 20,538 samples were tested during the 24-hour period, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
Read: icddr,b donates essential medical supplies to DMCH for treating critically ill COVID patients
The infection rate rose to 7.83% from Tuesday’s 7.55%.
Vaccination drive
In the past 24 hours, not a single citizen in the country received the first dose of the vaccine. However, 64,377 people received the second dose during the period.
The administering of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to an acute shortage of the same amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
Read:Govt approves proposal to import Sinofarm vaccine
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses acquired from India's Serum Institute.
icddr,b donates essential medical supplies to DMCH for treating critically ill COVID patients
The icddr,b handed over essential supplies containing medical equipment and medicine to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for the treatment of critical COVID-19 patients on Wednesday.
This is part of a grant agreement between icddr,b and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to strengthen icddr,b Dhaka Hospital’s capacity to provide COVID-19 treatment to its staff, and also supporting a healthcare facility serving underprivileged people in Dhaka city.
The medical supplies comprised of three units of High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC), 20 units of HFNC accessories, three units of patient monitor, 170 vials of broad-spectrum antiviral medication Remdesivir, and 100 vials of anticoagulant injection, all of which are aimed at reinforcing DMCH’s COVID-19 response.
The handover ceremony took place at DMCH and was attended by icddr,b’s Head, Hospitals Dr Baharul Alam and Brigadier General Md Nazmul Haque, Director, DMCH.
Dr Alam said, “The coronavirus pandemic has led to strained healthcare systems not only in Bangladesh but around the world. Many thanks to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for extending their support in strengthening our capacities in treating more patients with quality care.
“I am also thankful to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for the support it provides by treating referral patients requiring multidisciplinary care sent from icddr,b Dhaka Hospital,” he added.
Brig Gen Haque said, “icddr,b and Dhaka Medical College Hospital have close cooperation in relation to patient care. We are grateful for the generosity of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and icddr,b for their support of live-saving equipment and medicines. These will certainly boost our treatment effort by many folds.”
Dr Alauddin Al-Azad, Deputy Director, Dr Md Khalequzzaman Khan, Deputy Director, Dr Md Ashraful Alam, Assistant Director, Dr Halima Sultana Haque, Assistant Director, Dr Ashrafun Nahar, Assistant Director, Dr Md Saad Ullah, Senior Store Officer of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Shihab Uddin Ahmed, Senior Manager, Hospital, of icddr,b were also present at the handover ceremony.
Covid-19 death: PM donates Tk25 lakh to DS Maruf's family
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wednesday donated Tk25 lakh as financial assistance to the family of a deputy secretary who died from Covid-19 recently.
PMO Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah handed over two separate family savings certificates to Fatema Naharin Nira, wife of late deputy secretary Abul Khair Md Maruf Hasan, on behalf of the prime minister.
Nira received one certificate – equivalent to Tk20 lakh – in her name and another of Tk5 lakh in the name of Maruf Hasan's mother Mahfuza Akter Banu.
Maruf, who was deputy secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, breathed his last on April 15 at the age of 48. He left behind his wife, two children and elderly mother.
Govt approves proposal to import Sinofarm vaccine
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Service Division to import Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, disclosed this while briefing reporters after a meeting of the committee.
She, however, did not provide any detail about the price of the Chinese vaccine and its quantity. “It’s just an approval made in principle. Details of the proposal will be known when it’ll come again for approval of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase.”
Dr Shahida said the proposal was instantly placed on the table during the virtual meeting.
She said the CCEA approved another proposal of the Health Service Division to import 40 Oxygen generators to be used for the treatment of Covid patients.
Also read: Dhaka requests Delhi to send vaccine to Bangladesh soon
The Central Medicine Store Department (CMSD) will import the oxygen generators.
Another proposal made by the Industries Ministry received approval of the CCEA to sign a contract for the import of 1.28 million metric tons of fertiliser from three countries for the fiscal year 2021-2022.
Of the bulk fertiliser, 500,000 mt will be imported from Muntajar Qatar, 500,000 mt from Sabic of Saudi Arabia and 250,000 mt from Fertiglbe of the UAE.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) approved nine proposals, including the import of LNG and awarding a contract for installing a 400MW power plant to a Chinese contractor.
As per the proposal, state-owned Petrobangla will import 3.360 million MMBtu of (liquified natural gas) LNG from AOT Trading of Switzerland at a cost of Tk 340.62 crore -- $10.199 per unit.
Also read: Bangladesh to get 106,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine on June 2: Health Ministry
State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will award an EPC contract to Chinese contractor SEPCO-III Electric Power Construction Company Ltd, at a cost of Tk 1,796.72 crore to set up a 400MW gas-fired power plant at Raozan Power Station in Chattogram.
The plant will be installed replacing the existing one.
A proposal of the Bangladesh Police received approval of the committee to award a contract Joint Venture of (1) Smart Technologies (BD) Ltd, Dhaka and (2) Digicon Technologies Ltd, Dhaka to introduce surveillance systems on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
Under the contract, the contractor will set up CCTV monitoring systems and other infrastructure on the highway.
Two other proposals of the Directorate General of Food (DGF) received approval of the CCPP.
Also read: Bangladesh seeks at least 2 mln doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada
The DGF will award a Tk 261.70 contract to the Joint Venture of (1) Beximco Computers Limited, Bangladesh, (2) Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd. Bangladesh, (3) Tech Mahindra Ltd. India, and (4) Tech Valley Networks Ltd. Bangladesh to install software, set up data centres and monitoring systems at all the food storehouses across the country under the package No-GD-27 of the “Modern Food Storage Facilities (MFSP)” project.
The DGF will award another contract of Tk 330.86 crore under the package No-W-21 of the same project to Joint Venture of (1) Confidence Infrastructure Limited, Bangladesh and (2) The GSI Group LLC, USA to set up a food steel silo for rice at Barisal.
Payra Port Authority’s tender proposal to award a Tk 5,629.18 crore contract to Jan De Nul (JDN), a Belgium-based dredging company, to conduct capital dredging and maintenance at the Rabonabad channel of the Payra Port received approval of the committee.
Another proposal of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) under the Shipping Ministry received approval of the CCPP to award a contract to Karnaphuli Ship Builders Ltd., to construct and supply four coastal passenger vessels at a cost of Tk 230.95 crore.
Covid-19: Bangladesh again sees steep rise in deaths, new cases
Bangladesh on Wednesday witnessed 37 more Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours until Wednesday morning.
The death tally now stands at 12,248 while the mortality rate remains static at 1.56%.
Besides, the country saw 1,608 new cases with an increased number of tests as 20,538 samples were tested during the period, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The infection rate rose to 7.83% from Tuesday’s 7.55%.
Also read: Govt approves proposal to import Sinofarm vaccine
The country reported 30 deaths from the virus on Tuesday and 32 on Monday.
Among the latest fatalities, 24 are men and 13 are women.
US-Bangla Airlines announces attractive Doha-Dhaka packages
Leading private carrier US-Bangla Airlines has announced attractive packages for Dhaka-bound passengers from Doha, with special fares and safe quarantine management amid Covid.
The airlines is currently operating Dhaka-Doha flights four days a week, according to a release.
Read: US-Bangla to operate international flights on four routes from Saturday
The packages include comfortable stay at various hotels in Dhaka, designated as institutional quarantine centres by the government, with breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as drop facilities.
The minimum Doha-Dhaka package cost is Tk 31,990 for three nights and four days, which includes accommodation in a triple-sharing room. For a twin-sharing room, one has to shell out Tk 34,990, while it's Tk 39,990 for a single occupancy room.
Read US-Bangla’s fleet expands to 14
US-Bangla Airlines flies from Doha to Dhaka at 11.30 pm local time on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and lands at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 8 am the next day.
For any information including quarantine facility, one can contact US-Bangla Airlines Sales Centre at +8801777777800-806 or 13605 and +97450084440.
Read US-Bangla adds two new ATR 72-600s to its fleet
11 more India returnees test positive for Covid-19
Amid a concern over the Indian variant of coronavirus, eleven people, who returned home from India on May 5, have tested positive for Covid-19.
All the Covid-19 patients are now undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of Satkhira Medical College and Hospital.
Some 142 Bangladeshi nationals returned home from India on May 5 and the samples of all the returnees were collected for test.
Read:36 India returnees sent to Cumilla for institutional quarantine
Of them, 11 turned out to be positive for Covid-19 as the results came out on Tuesday night, said Satkhira Civil Surgeon Husain Safayet.
The others were kept at three quarantine centres in Satkhira and their quarantine period will be completed today.
However, the samples of the 11 Covid-19 patients will be sent to IEDCR for testing to know whether those are the deadly Indian variants.
Deputy Commissioner of Satkhira SM Mostafa Kamal said all the 11 Covid-19 patients were sent to the isolation unit of Satkhira Medical College and Hospital for treatment under special management.
Meanwhile, panic gripped the residents of Satkhira district town after hearing that the Indian returnees have been kept in different hotels in the district town.
Read:Covid-19: Three more cases of Indian variant reported in Bangladesh
As India has been experiencing a new strain of Covid-19, the government imposed restrictions along the border areas of Bangladesh. 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.
‘City in transition’: New York vies to turn page on pandemic
More than a year after coronavirus shutdowns sent “the city that never sleeps” into a fitful slumber, New York could be wide awake again this summer.
Starting Wednesday, vaccinated New Yorkers can shed their masks in most situations, and restaurants, stores, gyms and many other businesses can go back to full capacity if they check vaccination cards or apps for proof that all patrons have been inoculated.
Subways resumed running round-the-clock this week. Midnight curfews for bars and restaurants will be gone by month’s end. Broadway tickets are on sale again, though the curtain won’t rise on any shows until September.
Officials say now is New York’s moment to shake off the image of a city brought to its knees by the virus last spring — a recovery poignantly rendered on the latest cover of The New Yorker magazine. It shows a giant door part-open to the city skyline, letting in a ray of light.
Read:Biden boosting world vaccine sharing commitment to 80M doses
Is the Big Apple back to its old, brash self?
“Maybe 75%. ... It’s definitely coming back to life,” said Mark Kumar, 24, a personal trainer.
But Ameen Deen, 63, said: “A full sense of normalcy is not going to come any time soon. There’s far too many deaths. There’s too much suffering. There’s too much inequality.”
Last spring, the biggest city in America was also the nation’s deadliest coronavirus hotspot, the site of over 21,000 deaths in just two months. Black and Hispanic patients have died at markedly higher rates than whites and Asian Americans.
Hospitals overflowed with patients and corpses. Refrigerated trailers served as temporary morgues, and tents were set up in Central Park as a COVID-19 ward. New York’s hectic streets fell quiet, save for ambulance sirens and nightly bursts of cheering from apartment windows for health care workers.
After a year of ebbs, surges, reopenings and closings, the city hopes vaccinations are turning the tide for good. About 47% of residents have had at least one dose so far. Deaths have amounted to about two dozen a day in recent weeks, and new cases and hospitalizations have plummeted from a wintertime wave.
Large swaths of the country and world are also starting to get back to normal after a crisis blamed for 3.4 million deaths globally, including more than 587,000 in the U.S.
Las Vegas casinos are returning to 100% capacity and no social distancing requirements. Disneyland in California opened up late last month after being shuttered for more than 400 days. Massachusetts this week announced that all virus restrictions will expire Memorial Day weekend.
Summer music festivals like Lollapalooza are back on, the Indy 500 is bracing for more than 100,000 fans, and the federal government says fully vaccinated adults no longer need to wear masks.
France is opening back up on Wednesday as well, with the Eiffel Tower, Parisian cafes and cinemas and the Louvre bringing back visitors for the first time in months.
Read:Pfizer COVID-19 shot expanded to US children as young as 12
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared it the “summer of New York City.”
There are other signs New York is regaining its bustle. Some 80,000 city employees returned to their offices at least part time this month, joining the many municipal workers whose jobs never were done remotely.
Subway and commuter rail ridership is averaging about 40% of normal after plunging to 10% last spring, when the subway system began closing for several hours overnight for the first time in its more than 115-year history.
Shakeem Brown, an artist and delivery person who works late in Manhattan, spent up to three hours a night commuting back to his Queens apartment before 24/7 service resumed Monday. Brown, 26, said it’s “refreshing” to see things opening up.
At e’s Bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, “we feel the energy” of social life ramping up, co-owner Erin Bellard said. “People are so excited to be out.”
Still, receipts at the bar and grill have been down about 35% because of pandemic restrictions on hours and capacity, she said. The impending end of the midnight curfew will give the bar two more crucial hours, and the owners are planning to survey patrons to determine whether to regain full capacity by requiring vaccinations.
From other vantage points, “normal” looks farther off.
The sidewalks and skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan, for instance, are still noticeably empty. Big corporate employers largely aren’t looking to bring more workers back until fall, and only if they feel it’s safe, said Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a major employers group.
“Shutting down was easy. Reopening is hard,” Wylde said after a meeting last week with a group of CEOs. “All the employers say that there still is fear and some resistance to coming back.”
Besides virus fears, companies and workers are wondering about safety, she said.
Crime in the city has become a growing source of concern, but it’s a complicated picture. Murders, shootings, felony assaults and auto thefts rose in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, but robberies and grand larcenies fell. So did crime in the transit system, probably because of the drop in ridership.
Read:COVID’s US toll projected to drop sharply by the end of July
Brandon Goldgrub has been back at his midtown office since July, but it’s just in the last few weeks that he has noticed the sidewalks seem a bit crowded again.
“Now I feel it’s a lot more normal,” said Goldgrub, 30, a property manager.
Visiting from Tallahassee, Florida, Jessica Souva looked around midtown and felt hopeful about the city where she used to live.
“All we heard, elsewhere in the country, was that New York was a ghost town, and this doesn’t feel like that,” said Souva, 47. “It feels like a city in transition.”
Restrictions reimposed as virus resurges in much of Asia
Taxi drivers are starved for customers, weddings are suddenly canceled, schools are closed, and restaurant service is restricted across much of Asia as the coronavirus makes a resurgence in countries where it had seemed to be well under control.
Sparsely populated Mongolia has seen its death toll soar from 15 to 233, while Taiwan, considered a major success in battling the virus, has recorded more than 1,000 cases since last week and placed over 600,000 people in two-week medical isolation.
Hong Kong and Singapore have postponed a quarantine-free travel bubble for a second time after an outbreak in Singapore of uncertain origin. China, which has all but stamped out local infections, has seen new cases apparently linked to contact with people arriving from abroad.
The resurgence hasn’t come close to the carnage wrought in India and parts of Europe, but it is a keen reminder that the virus remains resilient, despite strict mask mandates, case tracing, mass testing and wider deployment of the newest weapon against it — vaccinations.
Read:COVID-19 cases rise to 25,228,996 in India, highest daily death toll recorded
That’s setting back efforts to get social and economic life back to normal, particularly in schools and sectors like the hospitality industry that are built on public contact.
In Taiwan, the surge is being driven by the more easily transmissible variant first identified in Britain, according to Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist and the island’s former vice president, who led the highly praised pandemic response last year.
Complicating matters are some senior citizens who frequent slightly racy “tea salons” in Taipei’s Wanhua neighborhood. They accounted for about 375 of the new cases as of Tuesday, Chen said. The tea shops are known for providing adult entertainment with singing and dancing.
“These seniors, when they go to these places, want to keep it veiled,” Chen said. “When we are conducting the investigation, they may not be honest.”
In Wanhua, normally a bustling area with food stalls, shops and entertainment venues, the Huaxi night market and historic Longshan Buddhist temple are closed.
Kao Yu-chieh, who runs a breakfast shop in the area, said business is down at least 50% since last week.
Cab driver Wang Hsian Jhong said he hasn’t had a customer in three days. “Everyone is affected. This is a Taiwan-wide problem. We have to get through it,” he said, puffing on a cigarette on a street in Wanhua.
Schools, gyms and pools are closed in Taipei, and gatherings of more than five people indoors and more than 10 people outdoors are banned. The island shut all schools starting Wednesday.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has sought to reassure a public that is reverting to panic-buying and shunning public places.
“We will continue to strengthen our medical capacity,” Tsai said, adding that vaccines are arriving from abroad.
Malaysia unexpectedly imposed a one-month lockdown through June 7, spooked by a sharp rise in cases, more-infectious variants and weak public compliance with health measures.
Read:Coronavirus: Taiwan has another jump, capital closing schools
It was the second nationwide lockdown in just over a year and came after the country’s cases shot up fourfold since January; it’s now more than 479,000 and 1,994 people have died, a sum also up by four times from January. Interstate travel and social activities are banned, schools are shut, and restaurants can provide only takeout service. The government has warned that hospitals have almost maxed out their capacity to take new coronavirus cases.
Singapore has imposed stringent social distancing measures until June 13, restricting public gatherings to two people and banning dine-in service at restaurants.
That came after the number of coronavirus infections of untraceable origin rose to 48 cases in the past week, from 10 cases the week before. Singapore had previously been held up as a role model after keeping the virus at bay for months.
Schools moved online after students in several institutions tested positive. Wedding receptions are no longer allowed, and funerals are capped at 20 people.
For wedding planner Michelle Lau, at least seven clients either canceled or postponed weddings meant to take place over the next month. Other couples have opted for a simple ceremony without a reception, she said.
Janey Chang, who runs two Latin dance studios in Singapore, says that the tougher restrictions have drastically reduced class size.
“We are taking on fewer students, but the costs such as rent remain the same,” Chang said. “Whether we can continue to operate is highly dependent on the number of coronavirus cases.”
Hong Kong has responded to fresh outbreaks by increasing the quarantine requirement from 14 to 21 days for unvaccinated travelers arriving from “high-risk” countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, and, farther afield, Argentina, Italy, the Netherlands and Kenya.
China has set up checkpoints at toll booths, airports and railway stations in Liaoning province, where new cases were reported this week. Travelers must have proof of a recent negative virus test, and mass testing was ordered in part of Yingkou, a port city with shipping connections to more than 40 countries.
Thailand reported 35 deaths, the highest since the outbreak started, on Tuesday, and an additional 29 on Wednesday. That brought its number of fatalities to 678, of which 584 have been reported in the latest wave. About three-quarters of Thailand’s more than 116,000 cases have been recorded since the beginning of April.
Thailand had about 7,100 cases in all of last year in what was regarded as a success story.
The resurgence has posed difficult choices for governments, particularly in poorer nations where lockdown restrictions can increase financial suffering for those already living on the edge of starvation.
Read:Indonesia suspends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch after death
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has eased a lockdown in the bustling capital and adjacent provinces to fight economic recession and hunger but has still barred public gatherings this month, when many Roman Catholic festivals are held.
COVID-19 infections started to spike in March to some of the worst levels in Asia, surging beyond 10,000 a day and prompting Duterte to impose the lockdown in and around Manila in April. The Philippines has reported more than 1.1 million infections with 19,372 deaths, though the surge has begun to ease.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the partial resumption of economic activities, increased noncompliance with restrictions and inadequate tracing of people exposed to the virus combined to spark the steep rise in infections.
Experts said the delivery of vaccines, however delayed and small in amount, also fostered false confidence the pandemic might be ending.