World Health Organization officials in the Western Pacific say border closures adopted by some countries may buy time to deal with the omicron coronavirus variant, but measures put in place and experience gained in dealing with the delta variant should remain the foundation for fighting the pandemic. While a few regional countries are facing surges, COVID-19 cases and deaths in many others have decreased and plateaued, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr. Takeshi Kasai told reporters Friday in a virtual news conference broadcast from Manila, Philippines. “Border control can delay the virus coming in and buy time. But every country and every community must prepare for new surges in cases,” Kasai said. “The positive news in all of this is that none of the information we have currently about omicron suggests we need to change the directions of our response.” Much remains unknown about the new variant, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, or if it makes people more seriously ill, and whether it can thwart the vaccine. Read:India reports first two Covid cases of Omicron variant Kasai said omicron has been designated a variant of concern because of the number of mutations and because early information suggests it may be more transmissible than other variants of the virus. More testing and observation is necessary, he said. Thus far, four countries and regions in the Western Pacific — Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea — have reported cases of the omicron variant, said WHO Regional Emergency Director Dr. Babatunde Olowokure. That number is likely to go up as more cases are discovered globally, Olowokure said. Singapore and Malaysia have also reported their first cases in the last 24 hours, along with India, which falls just outside the WHO Western Pacific Region. In the Philippines, government epidemiology bureau director Althea de Guzman said Friday that one of 71 people located by authorities after arriving in the country from South Africa in the last two weeks had tested positive for the coronavirus and still more tests are underway to determine if it’s the omicron variant. “We are preparing and bracing our health system in case, first, omicron enters here and, second, we suddenly see a spike in cases,” de Guzman said. The emergence of omicron is of particularly concern for organizers of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, now just weeks away. Beijing is adopting a “series of comprehensive prevention and control measures to minimize the risk of the spread of imported outbreaks, effectively protect the health of all participants and people of the hosting cities, and ensure that the competition runs safely and smoothly as scheduled,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Weidong China has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for COVID-19 transmission and has some of the world’s strictest border controls. Games participants will have to live and compete inside a bubble and only spectators who are residents of China and have been vaccinated and tested will be permitted at venues. Beijing’s measures would seem to be adequate for now. In terms of what countries should be doing now, our experiences over the last few years, especially in responding to delta, provides a guide of what we need to do, as well as how to cope with future surges in a more sustainable way, Olowokure said in Manila. Those include full vaccination coverage, social distancing, mask wearing and other measures. The goal is to “ensure we are treating the right patients in the right place at the right time, and so therefore ensuring that ICU beds are available, particularly for those who need them,” he said. Read:US reports 1st case of omicron variant in returning traveler Despite the positive trends in handling the pandemic in the Western Pacific region, largely through high vaccination rates, “we cannot be complacent,” Kasai said. Globally, cases have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks and the number of deaths has started to rise again too, driven largely by the delta variant and decreased use of protective measures in other parts of the world, he said. “We should not be surprised to see more surges in the future. As long as transmission continues, the virus can continue to mutate as the emergence of omicron demonstrates, reminding us of the need to stay vigilant,” Kasai said. He warned especially about the likelihood of surges due to more gatherings and movement of people during the holiday season. The northern winter season will likely bring other infectious respiratory diseases such as influenza alongside COVID-19, Kasai said. “It is clear that this pandemic is far from over and I know that people are worried about omicron,” he said. “But my message today is that we can adapt the way we manage this virus to better cope with the future surges and reduce their health, social and economic impacts.” The WHO Western Pacific Region includes 37 countries and areas from Palau to Mongolia.

The local administration on Tuesday imposed strict restrictions in the Hili land port area of  Dinajpur's Hakimpur upazila for a week to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission. The restrictions came into force at 6am, and will continue till 4 pm on June 21. Read:14-day lockdown in Damurhuda to contain Covid spread At an emergency meeting of the Corona Preventive Committee on Monday, Hakimpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Nur-e-Alam took the decision to impose strict restrictions in the area in view of a sudden surge in Covid cases. However, the week-long restrictions won't hamper export-import activities between Bangladesh and India, which will continue on a limited scale following all Covid-safety protocols. Read: Indefinite lockdown in Magura city and Mohammadpur Upazila from Sunday During the week-long lockdown, kitchen markets and local grocery stores shops will be allowed to operate only from 6am to 4pm. However, anyone found violating health protocols will be penalised. If anyone is found infected with Covid-19, then their house will be sealed. Read:Week-long lockdown in Kushtia municipality areas to contain Covid spread Dr Gaddafi Shikder, resident medical officer of Hakimpur Upazila Health Complex, said that so far some 135 people have contracted coronavirus in the upazila, while 101 people have recovered from Covid-19. One person has died of Covid-19 in the upazila to date, he said.

One person has died while 158 others have tested positive for Covid in the past 24 hours in Chapainawabganj district, officials said on Thursday morning. Chapainawabganj Civil Surgeon Dr Zahid Nazrul Chowdhury said the samples of 823 people were tested for Covid. "Of them, the results of 158 people have emerged positive." Read: 14-day lockdown ends in Chapainawabganj, new restrictions imposed With this, a total of 2,976 people have been found infected with the virus in the district to date. Also, 62 people have so far died from Covid-19 in the district. So far, 1,464 people have recovered. On Tuesday, after the end of a 14-day strict lockdown in Chapainawabganj district, the local administration imposed restrictions on public movement to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission. Read: Five Covid patients die in Chapainawabganj, over 100 test positive The new restrictions will remain in force till June 16.  

Authorities have imposed strict restrictions in Jashore and Nauapara municipalities of the district to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission. The decision to impose the restrictions with effect from Wednesday midnight was taken at a recent meeting of the District Coronavirus Prevention Committee in view of a surge in Covid cases in the two municipalities. Read:Covid in Jashore: Movement of people restricted in 2 wards The district on Wednesday reported 143 new Covid cases in 24 hours, pushing up  the infection rate to 49 percent. Two persons, including a Covid-19 patient, died during this period. According to an expert team of the Health Services Division, Covid cases are on the rise in Jashore district, which shares its border with India. Read: 52-yr-old India returnee dies in Jashore As per its three-day report, the infection rate in the district was 29 percent on June 7, 42 percent on June 8, and 49 percent on June 9. The district has so far recorded 7,701 Covid cases and 84 fatalities. Currently, 72 Covid patients are undergoing treatment at Jashore General Hospital. Read:8 Indian variant cases identified in Jashore Additional District Magistrate Kazi Mohammad Sayemuzzaman said, “The local administration is worried about the overall Covid-19 situation in the district and that’s why it has decided to impose restrictions on public movement in the two municipalities.” No vehicles will be allowed to leave Jashore district town, while all shops and markets have been asked to stay shut. Only kitchen markets, daily essential shops and pharmacies will stay open.  

The local administration on Tuesday extended the ongoing lockdown in Teknaf upazila and five Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district in an effort to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission. The existing lockdown will remain in force till June 6, officials here said. Also read: Bangladesh sees rise in Covid infections; 41 more die All the activities inside the Rohingya camps, apart from food and medicine supply, will remain suspended during the lockdown. Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas both in Cox’s Bazar district and Bhasan Char. Also read: Strict lockdown imposed in Teknaf and five Rohingya camps Authorities on May 21 enforced a week-long lockdown at five Rohingya refugee camps in Teknaf and Ukhiya upazilas in Cox’s Bazar following a recent spike in Covid-19 infections in the district. At the same time, the government also announced a 10-day lockdown in Teknaf upazila to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has teamed up with Young Bangla, a youth volunteering platform, launching a mass-masking campaign to help increase proper mask-wearing in Dhaka significantly and reduce Covid-19 transmission saving thousands of lives. The campaign, led by the city corporation Mayor Md Atiqul Islam, was brought forth in partnership with local and global organizations Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Yale University, Stanford Medical School, Centre for Research and Information (CRI), Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), and BD Clean. Around 100 volunteers from Young Bangla, the youth secretariat of the ruling Awami League's research wing Centre for Research & Information (CRI), teamed up with the organizations to leverage the impact created by the life-saving initiative. In the first design meeting of the campaign, the Mayor said, “We need to learn how to manage our lives to cope with the threat of Covid. Proper mask wearing is a critical part of that. This challenge needs broad partnership. I am very happy that we are forming a global partnership — the DNCC Mass Masking Campaign—to tackle this big challenge.” The Mass Masking Campaign is based on a model called NORM (NORMalize mask-wearing model). Developed by Yale University, Stanford University, and IPA, in partnership with GreenVoice, a local NGO, NORM was rigorously researched using a large-scale randomized evaluation. Also read: Avoid public gatherings, wear masks to fight Covid surge, PM urges all The research was similar to vaccine trials, involving 350,000 people across 600 unions throughout Bangladesh for the last four months. NORM for rural Bangladesh includesfour components: distributing free masks, offering information on mask-wearing, reinforcing mask-wearing in-person and in public, and modeling and endorsement by trusted leaders.

The strict lockdown imposed countrywide from April 14 to put a leash on the soaring transmission of Covid-19 in Bangladesh will stay in force till at least April 28. As boundless agonies of marginal income earners become more evident every day, some of them have taken the initiative to turn the table on the face of crisis by volunteering as frontline workers providing critical and emergency services during the pandemic. Also read: Bangladesh’s Covid death toll nears 11,000 as cases surge A UNB photojournalist had the opportunity to witness one such extremely vulnerable group – who identify as third gender or transgender – hard at work to earn their keep, even as the lockdown presents a whole new set of risks and dilemmas. Many of them depend entirely on irregular incomes from daily work in the informal sector. But many have lost their basic income source as the lockdowns come down particularly hard on informal work. Also read: Govt issues circular extending lockdown until April 28 Brought together by Brihonnola, a platform for the transgender community, these volunteers have stepped forward to fill a critical gap serving Covid-19 patients and their families, fully aware that the risk of infection is far greater in such settings. The photos were taken as they went about their work at Dhaka Medical College Hospital's Covid-19 unit. Also read: Transgender community members hold cleanup campaign at DU

Bangladesh passed off its second day of the weeklong ‘loose’ lockdown on Tuesday with the daily Covid-19 cases and its fatalities reaching a new high. But commuters said they suffered a lot on the streets on their way to offices and other destinations, and their way back home for lack of public transport. They had to endure the same sufferings on the first day of the lockdown on Monday. As government offices and private firms and different factories remained open, office-goers were seen struggling to manage transports in the city to go to their workplaces and return homes. As part of the shutdown, public transports went off the roads. Many of them were forced to hire rickshaws and auto-rickshaws paying excessive fares while some others reached offices walking on foot. As the government’s restrictions were not enforced strictly, many city dwellers continued to show apathy to the health safety rules, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Alongside private cars, rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, microbus and CNG-run auto-rickshaws and many ride-sharing services were seen operating in the capital as usual while people moving freely ignoring the risks of Covid-19 transmission.  Also read:  Lockdown in Bangladesh enters day 2 amid public apathy Shopping malls are closed as per the government instruction but shops were seen open in many areas. Visiting many city areas, the UNB correspondent found shops in lanes and by-lanes open despite the lockdown.

The government has decided to allow public transport services to resume operations in city corporation areas from Wednesday as the country passes a weeklong lockdown enforced to curb Coronavirus transmission. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said they would be allowed to operate between 6am and 6pm. Public transport services will operate in Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur and Mymensigh city corporation areas. Also read: Lockdown in Bangladesh enters day 2 amid public apathy But they will have to leave half the seats empty, the minister said in a press statement. All long distance public transport services will remain suspended until further instructions from the government. At the start and end of every trip, all buses must be sanitised, the minister said. Also read: Experts find lockdown in Bangladesh “unscientific, halfhearted” Staff and passengers must wear face masks and use hand sanitiser, the Road Transport and Bridge minister added. Quader warned that taking any extra fare from the passengers than the adjusted one won’t be allowed. He said this order will be effective from April 7. 

A large number of homebound people were seen gathering at railway station and bus terminals as the government announced 7-day countrywide lockdown from Monday. Commuters fearing suspension of public transport crowding at the bus and launch terminals amid the risk of Coronavirus transmission. Excessive pressure transports was seen on the highway causing long tailbacks.