coronavirus situation
People want to know initiatives about vaccine: GM Quader
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Sunday said the people want to know what initiative the government has taken to remove uncertainty created over getting Covid-19 vaccine in time.“Those who have received the first jab are concerned whether they would get the second dose in time,” he said in a statement.The JaPa chairman said frustration is growing among people as the country did not receive vaccine doses as per agreement since February.“Uncertainty has been created among the people over getting vaccine,” he said adding that getting vaccinated is the right of the people.Quader said it is the government's responsibility to vaccinate all eligible communities across the country. “The people of the country want to know what initiative the government has taken over the vaccine,” he said.The government will have to take effective steps to ensure vaccine for the people within the stipulated time, said Quader, also the deputy leader of the opposition.He said last year JaPa suggested the government maintain contact with alternative sources over vaccines. But no such initiative has been taken. As a result, the country is now facing a tough crisis.The JaPa chairman expected that the government would make all-out efforts to collect the necessary vaccine on an urgent basis.
Writ filed challenging legality of lockdown
A writ petition was filed with the High Court (HC) on Sunday challenging the legality of the ongoing countrywide lockdown enforced by the government to contain the transmission of Coronavirus.
Supreme Court Advocate Yunus Ali Akand filed the writ petition .
The bench of Justice M. Enayetur Rahim and Justice Sardar Md. Rashed Jahangir may hear the writ petition on Monday.
Yunus Ali Akand said the government can’t halt citizens’ basic rights like people’s movement without imposing a state of emergency.
The ongoing lockdown has violated citizens’ basic right mentioned in section 27, 28, 31, 33, 35 and 36 of the Constitution, he said.
The writ also sought a stay on the lockdown and directive not to enforce any lockdown in the future, he added.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily deaths shoot past 100; new cases fall dramatically
After a slight fall for several days, Bangladesh’s daily coronavirus death toll crossed the 100-mark again on Sunday with a sharp fall in new cases.
Fatalities climbed to 11,053 with 101 deaths in the past 24 hours until the morning. The virus also infected 2,922 people, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.
The daily infection rate rose to 13.33 percent from Saturday’s 13.11 percent while the mortality rate remained static at 1.48 percent.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 745,322 coronavirus cases.
Also read: Border with India to remain shut for 14 days: FM
Between April 16 and 19, the country recorded over 100 deaths, breaking all previous records. The country registered 91, 95 and 98 Covid-related deaths on April 20, 21 and 22 respectively.
On April 23 ad 24, the number fell to 88 and 83.
Bangladesh has so far tested 5,345,501 samples, including 21,922 in the last 24 hours.
Benign Covid infection hasn't left Khaleda yet
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s second Covid-19 test report came out positive on Saturday, said her personal medical team member and BNP vice chairman Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.
“Madam (Khaleda) underwent the fresh corona test this afternoon. She tested positive for the virus as we received her report at night,” he said after visiting the BNP chief at her Gulshan residence.
Zahid, however, said the BNP chairperson's health condition is fine. "Madam is now doing well. She has no visible symptom of Covid-19.”
Also read: Khaleda undergoes fresh Covid test
He said Khaleda will undergo a further Covid test four-five days later.
It may be noted that since the thrice-former prime minister first tested positive for the virus on April 10, today's test result was to be expected, and absolutely normal. It's possible her doctors hoped to see something different given the clearly very strong immune response she generated, that has prevented almost all the complications associated with COVID-19 from being reported in her.
The physician said they will keep Khaleda under close observation though she has no complication relating to the virus.
Also read: Khaleda Zia infected with Covid-19
He said eight other people who were infected with the virus at Khaleda's residence also underwent the test today (Saturday) and five of them tested negative while the rest three positive for the virus.
Zahid said the health conditions of all of them are stable.
Earlier in the day, Khaleda’s personal physician Mohammad Al Mamun said the BNP chief underwent a fresh Covid-19 test today to know whether she has recovered as she has been doing well with no visible symptoms.
Also read: Nine infected with coronavirus at BNP chief Khaleda’s house
Talking to UNB, Mamun said Khaleda's medical team will make a decision about her next course of treatment once they receive her Covid-19 test report.
"We first arranged the test for eight others who were infected with the virus at Khaleda's residence in the morning, and then for Madam in the afternoon," he said.
Dr Zahid said Khaleda’s body temperature is normal. "Her breathing and oxygen saturation level are good."
Khaleda Zia underwent Covid-19 test on April 10 as eight people at her residence were infected with the virus and her report came positive.
From the margins to frontliners: Trans volunteers step up
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
Coronavirus: BNP urges govt to shut borders with India
BNP on Saturday urged the government to close the country's land borders with India as the neighbouring country is witnessing a serious outbreak of coronavirus.
“The coronavirus infection has sharply increased in India...a terrible situation has been prevailing there due to the prevalence of new variants. Our citizens have to travel to India by road and air for various reasons, including business and treatment,” said party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Speaking at a virtual press conference, he said, “West Bengal has the highest number of virus infections. So, we think, the land borders with India need to be closed completely.”
Fakhrul also opposed the government’s decision of keeping the inbound air passengers in quarantine for only three days instead of two weeks.
He said no country in the world cut the duration of institutional quarantine to three days for international travellers.
Also read: Bangladesh’s Covid death toll nears 11,000 as cases surge
The BNP leader alleged that the government’s whimsical decisions only contribute to the deteriorating Covid situation.
He said many people had returned to their village homes before the government enforced the lockdown. “As the government is going to allow shops and shopping malls to reopen from Sunday, these people are again returning to Dhaka and they’ll go back to their village homes before the upcoming eid. As a result, the virus will spread badly across the country.”
The BNP leader said they have long been advising the government to take a coordinated plan and roadmap to tackle the coronavirus situation. “But the government is not paying heed to it.”
He also said the government has failed to enforce the ongoing lockdown in the country as it has not taken any step to feed the low-income people and destitute. “Forcing people to stay home without giving them food and money is inhumane and meaningless."
Fakhrul suggested the government to announce a seven-point incentive package for those affected by the second wave of coronavirus and the lockdown.
Also read: 25 Covid patients die in Delhi hospital
The party’s seven proposals are giving a one-time cash of Tk 15,000 for three months to each day-labourer and the low-income people who are badly affected by the lockdown, providing each worker of the informal sector with a one-time cash of Tk 15,000 for three months, bringing all the poor under the 'protection assistance' package, fairly preparing a list of disadvantaged beneficiaries of government's assistance, announcing special incentives for SMEs, institutional and informal industries and agriculture sector, and disbursing loans from the state exchequer to the affected industrialists, entrepreneurs and expatriates without political consideration.
Fakhrul also urged the government to implement a Tk 87,000 crore incentive package presented by their party last year to deal with the fallouts of the coronavirus pandemic.
He also called for taking a comprehensive plan based on national unity to tackle the coronavirus and its adverse impact since the entire nation is passing through a critical time.
The BNP leader alleged that the government’s wayward attitude over the coronavirus vaccine collection and uncertainties over getting the jabs from India have frustrated the entire nation.
He alleged that the ‘corrupt’ government has put the entire nation at a serious health risk ‘with its move to facilitate a pro-government business institution in importing the vaccine’.
Also read: BNP for 'all-party committee' to stop Covid surge
Fakhrul said the crisis over the vaccine was created as the government depended on a single source. “From the very beginning, we’ve repeatedly talked about procuring the vaccines from alternative sources alongside India. But nothing was done in this regard, creating the vaccine crisis.”
He accused the government of arresting BNP leaders and activists and alem-ulema by launching a crackdown in the name of enforcing a countrywide lockdown.
The BNP leader also said the government is trying to suppress people by implicating them in different cases under repressive laws like the Digital Security Act so that no one dares talk about its misdeeds, corruption, repression and 'fascist' rule.
Fakhrul urged BNP leaders and activists to stand by the poor and destitute to ease their sufferings at this bad time of the coronavirus pandemic.
Referring to media reports, he said the country’s food security will be at stake as the government has no adequate food stock.
Under the circumstances, the BNP leader urged the government to immediately start procuring paddy from farmers after fixing a fair price and expedite the OMS program to ensure rice at a lower price for poor people.
Iran bans flights from India and Pakistan
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency is reporting the country’s civil aviation agency has banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan because of the dramatic surge in coronavirus cases in the two nations.
IRNA says the decision was made by Iran’s Health Ministry and it takes effect Saturday at midnight.
Also Read: Why India is shattering global infection records
Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization noted there are no routine flights between Iran and India and “flights are operated occasionally.”
Several other countries in the region, including the sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait, also have banned flights to and from India over the rise in coronavirus cases there.
Zibakhsh said flights to and from 41 countries already were prohibited in Iran, while those who want to fly to other countries listed as high risk are required to have a coronavirus test in Iran. Travelers over 8 years old need to submit a negative PCR test within 96 hours of departure and do another test on arrival.
Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 18,230 new confirmed cases over 24 hours, bringing Iran’s total on Saturday to more than 2,377,000.
Also Read: India records world's highest single-day spike in Covid cases
Bangladesh’s Covid death toll nears 11,000 as cases surge
Bangladesh recorded 83 more Covid-related deaths in 24 hours until Saturday morning, raising the total fatalities to 10,952.
Bangladesh’s coronavirus fatalities crossed 10,000 on April 15 and the death tally reached near 11,000 within 10 days as the country finds it hard to deal with the pandemic.
With the latest figure, the mortality rate rose to 1.48 percent from Friday’s 1.47 percent, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout.
Also read: Govt mulls resuming public transport services
Besides, 2,697 new cases were detected during the period after examining 20,571 samples.
The daily infection rate fell to 13.11 percent from Friday’s 14 percent.
Bangladesh has so far tested 5,323,579 samples.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
With the news cases, the total caseload reached 742,400 while the total number of recoveries is 653,151, including 5477 in the last 24 hours.
April sees 1,906 coronavirus deaths
April has been the deadliest month since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, with 1,906 deaths and 127,632 new cases being recorded in the past 24 days.
The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,345 or 58.41 percent.
Also read: 25 Covid patients die in Delhi hospital
Fifty-two of the 83 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 13 from Chattogram division.
Three each died in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Rangpur, four in Barishal and five in Khulna divisions.
Of 1,068 ICU hospital beds across the country, 322 are now available.
Meanwhile, 7,074 general hospital beds, out of 12,237, are unoccupied right now.
The surge in Covid infections prompted the government to go for a lockdown from early April but it turned out to be lax and loose. From April 11, the government imposed a ‘stricter lockdown’ and later extended it upto April 28.
On Friday, the government allowed shopping malls to reopen from April 25.
Improvement ‘unlikely before June’
Meanwhile, a group of experts from both Bangladesh and Oxford University said that the country will witness the similar infection rate intermittently till the end of May while the situation may improve in June.
The possibility was projected in a mathematical model used by Bangladesh Como Modelling Group.
Vaccination campaign
Launched on February 7, a vaccination drive is underway across Bangladesh with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd for 30 million doses of the vaccine. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the vaccine doses uncertain.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister AK Momen assured people that there will be adequate doses of the vaccine.
So far, 5,778,686 people have received the first dose and 1,967,975 have got their second jab, according to official figures.
Also read: COVID-19 continues to disrupt essential health services in 90pc of countries: WHO
Brac to launch antigen testing Saturday
Brac will start antigen-based Covid-19 rapid testing for suspected patients from Saturday (April 24, 2021) to provide results in a shorter time amid a new surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.
The service, set to be run under the supervision of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), will be available at 16 testing booths – 15 in Dhaka and one in Chattagram – set up by Brac.
The testing facility will gradually be expanded to Brac's 32 testing booths in Dhaka and four in Chattogram.
Read NGOs urged to design plan of action taking Covid-19 into consideration
Brac is adding rapid antigen testing to its existing facility of collecting samples for Covid-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
The booths are open from 9am to 12noon from Saturday to Thursday. Each of the booths can collect and analyse 150 samples a day.
For the detection of Covid-19, the RT-PCR test is being widely used in Bangladesh now, which takes at least 24 hours or more to get the results. But, an antigen test will deliver the result within 30 minutes, which will add pace to the government's Covid-19 testing, Brac said.
Read Brac engaging with communities to build Covid-19 resilience
To support the DGHS, the organisation is operating 41 walk-in sample collection booths across the country.
Morsheda Chowdhury, director of Brac Health, Nutrition and Population Program, said: "To tackle the second wave of Covid-19, there is no alternative to maintain health advisories, along with testing suspects and referring them for isolation."
Read Country's largest Covid-19 dedicated hospital opened in Dhaka
Who and how to get the service
Anyone who has been referred by a registered physician, experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, or has been in contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient, is eligible to undergo the test through Brac operated booths.
Based on symptoms and case history, the organisation's staff will decide whether a person needs an antigen test or RT-PCR test. However, if someone tests negative in an antigen test despite having symptoms, their samples will be tested again through RT-PCR test.
People will have to apply online to get the service at the Brac booths.
Read Bangladesh allows antigen-based Covid-19 tests
Govt likely to ease lockdown after Apr 28
The restrictions on movement are likely to be relaxed to some extent from April 28, two weeks before the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims.
But there has not been any final decision yet and it is not clear right now to which extent the restrictions will be slackened. “The decision will be taken on April 28,” State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told UNB.
Read Extension of lockdown causing anxiety among low income earners
“Even if the restrictions are relaxed, we’ll have to properly maintain health guidelines and the government will ensure strict implementation of ‘no mask, no service’ policy,” he said.
State Minister Farhad said health guidelines will be ensured after the shops and shopping malls are opened from April 25.
“Covid infections can be kept in check if all of us follow health guidelines, wear masks and maintain recommended physical distancing,” he said. “We’ll get a positive result if we follow the restrictions until April 28. We’re focusing on health rules.”
Also read: Govt issues circular extending lockdown until April 28
No decision on public transport
Asked what the relaxed lockdown will look like, State Minister Farhad said there won’t be many restrictions. “The existing ones will be limited. There’ll be guidelines for daily life,” he said.
A circular will be issued within April 28 on the operation of offices.
Farhad said they are discussing the public transport issue. “There hasn’t been any decision yet. But once they resume, we’ll ensure that health rules are strictly followed,” he noted.
Read More people, vehicles on Dhaka roads in defiance of lockdown rules