US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller on Tuesday said America continues to work closely with Bangladesh in the fight against COVID-19 noting that the two great nations, together with their global partners, will prevail against this pandemic. He said they have provided over $73 million to support Bangladesh’s pandemic response and to date have sent 100 state-of-the art-U.S.-manufactured ventilators to treat critical patients. Ambassador Miller also gave a shout-out to his alma mater, the University of Michigan: “Go Blue!” The US virtually launched a webinar series linking medical universities in Bangladesh and the United States to share best practices in COVID-19 case management.  The two part-series contributes to the Strengthening Public Health Cooperation for a Safer Economy goal outlined in the September 30 high-level consultation between United States and Bangladesh, specifically by developing a Vision for Advancing the U.S.-Bangladesh Economic Partnership. Tuesday’s webinar was organized via partnership between the Directorate General of Health Services of the Government of Bangladesh and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Project ECHO, a platform for distant mentoring and learning managed by the University of New Mexico. Also read: US committed to work with Bangladesh to end trafficking-in-persons: Miller It is one of multiple capacity-building initiatives aimed at enhancing the knowledge and medical skills of doctors and other frontline workers in both public and private health facilities to improve the care given to COVID-19 patients and reduce and control the spread of the infection funded over the past year. The programme is made possible through over $73 million in COVID-19 response assistance from U.S. government agencies, according to the US Embassy in Dhaka.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it is India’s duty to assist other countries, including the nations in its neighbourhood, in the collective fight against the virus.

Bangladesh has established minimum requirements for the production of non-medical fabric masks for community use, making an important step towards safe and regulated production of masks and providing essential guidelines to local manufacturers, RMG sector and NGOs to join the fight against COVID-19. 

Physicians from Bangladesh Medical College Hospital (BMCH), led by Dr Tarek Alam, claimed that a combination of the anti-parasitic drug ‘ivermectin’ with antibiotic ‘Doxycycline’ yielded amazing results against Covid-19.

A Covid-19 response initiative has been launched in 251 unions of 18 Upazilas in the country to ensure that no one is left behind amid the coronavirus pandemic.    Efficient and Accountable Local Government (EALG) project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Government of Denmark repurposed the project activities and launched it on Friday through a virtual event.    EALG project, housed by the Local Government Division, has been working in 18 Upazilas of Khulna, Chandpur, Faridpur, Patuakhali, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Netrokona, Sunamganj and Cox’s Bazar districts since 2018 to strengthen the capacities of local government.   During this pandemic, the project has repurposed its budget to fight COVID19 by raising mass awareness, providing PPE, hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, soaps and setting up handwashing facilities, benefitting 500,000 people.   Helal Uddin Ahmed, Senior Secretary of Local Government Division attended the online launching event as the chief guest.    “These are unforeseen times, yet there has never been a better time to help those who are in need. With the economy gradually reopening, it is crucial to maintain health guidelines and stay cautious. EALG’s Covid-19 response initiatives will decrease the likelihood of people contracting the disease,” he said.   Montarin Mahal Aminuzzaman, Senior Adviser of DANIDA and Suzanne Mueller, Director of Cooperation, SDC, both highlighted the importance of raising mass awareness at union levels, ensuring personal safety.   “Adapting to the times and meeting the needs of our beneficiaries is necessary during this pandemic, especially as we remain committed to leaving no one behind. Transparency is extremely important while doing that,” said Sudipto Mukerjee, Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh.    “This is an opportunity as much as this is a crisis. This is an opportunity for transformative thinking for development, embracing the “new normal”. I salute all the frontline workers, who are working at the union level to protect people's lives,” Sudipto added.    The online session was moderated by EALG’s National Project Director Amitavh Sarker. Among others, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative Van Nguyen; Governance Cluster Lead, Mahmuda Afroz; Project Manager Shariful Hoque, and local government representatives were present.

Standard Chartered Bangladesh is working with SAJIDA Foundation to stand beside COVID-19 patients in Narayanganj. The SAJIDA Hospital Narayanganj, operated by SAJIDA Foundation, has been converted into a COVID-19 isolation centre, with a requisite supply of ICU facilities, ventilators, dialysis machines and PPE gear, according to a press release. The bank’s funds will go towards daily treatment cost of all COVID-19 patients kept in isolation at the hospital. Narayanganj is considered a coronavirus epicentre and has recorded the highest COVID-19 positive patients after Dhaka. The city is one of the major industrial centres of the country and greatly contributes to the economy, employment, and export earnings. The region accounts for 55 percent of the country’s total knitwear manufacturing. SAJIDA Foundation is one of the first responders to the COVID-19 crisis. The Foundation has served more than three million individuals through awareness raising, food and hygiene package distribution, agriculture value chain support, slum disinfection, portable handwashing device setup and PPE disbursement. SAJIDA’s two hospitals located in COVID-19 hotspots have treated over 15,000 patients since March. SAJIDA has also introduced an online COVID-19 symptom checker chatbot and dedicated hotline numbers to provide general and mental health consultation. Standard Chartered Bangladesh CEO Naser Ezaz Bijoy said: “We are delighted to partner with SAJIDA Foundation in supporting communities from a high-risk area. We are focused on providing wide-ranging and effective COVID-19 support programmes to vulnerable communities, as we strive to continue to live our ‘Here for good’ values.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Maya have signed an agreement on Tuesday to provide free services as part of efforts to help prevent and limit the spread of COVID-19 among readymade garment workers.

Although the government is trying to gradually ramp up the country’s testing capacity to contain the coronavirus outbreak, health experts said the shortage of medical technologists and logistics are hampering efforts leading to testing backlog.

The United Arab Emirates has provided seven metric tonnes of medical supplies to Bangladesh to bolster the country’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.    UAE Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Talal Mohammed AL Marzouqi handed over the medical aid to the Foreign Ministry officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday evening.   Officials from the UAE Embassy, Dhaka and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present.     Earlier, a special flight by Etihad Airways carrying the medical supplies landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:30pm, said the UAE Embassy on Friday.  

Russia has registered a daily record of 4,070 COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, with the total number reaching 32,008 as of Friday, official data showed.