Terming Health Minister Zahid Maleque a "shameless man" for his “failure, widespread corruption in the health sector and mismanagement in coronavirus treatment, opposition MPs of Jatiya Party and BNP on Saturday demanded his immediate resignation. They sharply criticized the health minister in Parliament for his failure to ensure oxygen in different hospitals for Covid-19 patients as many died in Satkhira and Bogura districts. The health minister was not there in the House but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present at the time. BNP MP Gulam Mohammad Siraj from Bogura-6 first launched the blistering attack on the health minister while speaking on a point of order. He alleged that around 24 Covid-19 patients died in the last two days in Bogura for lack of oxygen. The BP MP said Mohammad Ali Hospital in Bogra is a dedicated hospital to Covid-19 treatment but there are only eight ICU beds there and only two high-flow nasal cannula oxygen facilities. “As a result, the rest of the ICU beds are useless.” Also read: Corruption in health sector widespread: GM Quader He also said 450 beds in 3 hospitals in Bogra are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients leaving no scope for the hospitalization of new patients. Gulam Mohammad demanded immediate supply of 20 high-flow oxygen to every hospital. Jatiya Party Chairman and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in parliament GM Quader, in his winding-up speech, pointed out widespread mismanagement in the health sector, including the health ministry. He said the health ministry is still there where it was a year ago. “There has been no improvement.”

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Tuesday said the government’s aid programmes for the poor and destitute badly affected by the coronavirus-induced shutdown are inadequate.