Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Sunday urged the government to ensure food security of the poor and jobless people during this lockdown by neutrally making a list of them. “The families of the unemployed people are going through serious ordeal amid corona,” he said in a statement. Referring to a recent study of PPRC and Brac, the Jatiya Party chief said the living standards of about 15 percent of the country's people or about 2.45 crore have fallen below the poverty line anew during the one year of the Covid pandemic. Also read: GM Quader demands probe into vaccine, Covid test costs He said there are now nearly 3.5 crore poor people in the country with the new ones. GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said the number of poor people in the country will increase further due to the lockdown enforced by the government to tackle the second wave of the coronavirus. He said many people have lost their sources of income due to the lockdown. “There’s no food at the homes of those who live from hand to mouth.” Quader said many families of unemployed poor are facing a disastrous situation for lack of food, life-saving drugs and baby food during the lockdown. Also read: Much of health sector allocation being looted: GM Quader “Under such a situation, we demand the government make a proper list of the poor and strengthen the social security programme to ease their sufferings,” he added.

Authorities on Thursday imposed a week-long lockdown in the nine upazilas of Bagerhat district to contain the spread of Covid-19. The lockdown will remain in force till June 30 midnight. The decision to enforce the lockdown was taken at an emergency virtual meeting of the District Corona Prevention Committee on Tuesday, presided over by deputy commissioner Mohammad Azizur Rahman. Also read: Nationwide lockdown not needed if transmission in Dhaka, nearby districts is controlled: DGHS There will be strict restrictions on public movement in the upazilas. No vehicles will be allowed to ply on the roads during the lockdown. However, emergency service vehicles will remain out of the purview of the restrictions.  Mobile courts will penalise the violators, while the volunteer force will keep a tab on the ward and union levels in the district. On Wednesday, four people died of Covid-19 in the district. Of them, one died at Sadar Hospital, while the remaining three died at Khulna Medical College and Hospital. So far, 73 people have died in the district, according to health officials. Also read: Week-long lockdown imposed in Jibannagar to curb Covid spread Besides, 60 people tested positive for Covid in 24 hours till Wednesday morning. The positivity rate stood at 44%. District Civil Surgeon Dr KM Humayun Kabir said that a total of 2,751 people have been found infected with the virus and of them, 1,843 recovered in the district. He also urged people to strictly follow the health guidelines stipulated by the government.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched a three-month programme in 31 government-run health complexes in Chittagong Hill Tracts for prevention and control the spread of Covid-19 infections. The drive has been taken up in collaboration with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS).Communities across the three districts who visit these health facilities – including three District Sadar Hospitals and 22 Upazilla Health Complexes – in Rangamati, Khagrachari and  Bandarban districts of will benefit from this Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) program amid the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a ICRC press release. Also read: ICRC extends support for dignified management of dead during COVID-19The multi-layered strategy of the IPC program includes: imparting remote training to BDRCS volunteers, who in turn train existing cleaning staff of all government-run health structures while ensuring the availability of Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) and appropriate cleaning/disinfectant materials and tools.Around 160 cleaners from these 31 health facilities will receive training on the full IPC program (personal safety, cleaning, and disinfection procedure). Materials like chlorine, gloves, face shields, protective outwear, gumboots, and masks are distributed among the health facilities as part of the donation under this program.To avoid community transmission during the pandemic, 1200 households across the CHT region, which are being supported under other joint programs run by the ICRC and BDRCS, will also be provided with basic hygiene promotion items. Also read: ICRC, Cox's Sadar Hospital working to strengthen emergency healthcare services The latest phase of IPC program across the CHT region will continue until mid-September 2021.“This phase incorporates the lessons learnt from the previous intervention, and integrates best practice while undertaking doable actions with impacts," said Massimo Russo, Water and Habitat Delegate of ICRC Bangladesh.Earlier, between September to December 2020, the ICRC and the BDRCS implemented a first phase of the IPC program in all government health facilities of CHT districts, serving around 1.6 million people.

Expressing apprehension that the Covid-19 situation may deteriorate to some extent during the upcoming winter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday asked everyone to bolster preparation to fight the pandemic in wintertime.

The new football season will begin with the Federation Cup Football in the first week of December after completing the inter-club players transfer formalities in October-November next.

Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, the state minister for shipping, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hold a videoconference on Sunday with officials of the districts under Barisal and Khulna divisions to discuss the present COVID-19 there.   "The videoconference will take place at 10am from PM's official residence Ganobhaban," PM's press secretary Ihsanul Karim said on Saturday.   Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar will broadcast the programme live, he added.   Earlier, the Prime Minister held videoconferences with officials of the districts of Chattogram and Sylhet divisions.

A committee has been formed at upazila level to check spread of Coronavirus and the committee has been entrusted with specific responsibilities. 

Chhayanaut announced that it will not organise the annual Pahela Baishakh cultural festivity to welcome the Bengali new year at Ramna Park due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.