coronavirus situation
Community Radios helping tackle pandemic, info-demic
Community Radios have been broadcasting various programmes 160 hours a day for tackling the second wave of COVID–19 pandemic and Info-demic by following the government instructions.
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) has been exploring and sharing the updated information and materials needed by the radio stations, according to a press release.
The content of the programme motivates community people to stay at home and be safe, take COVID–19 vaccine immediately, avoid gathering, wear the mask. wash hands frequently, etc.
Community Radio broadcasts are a useful means to share community information, especially to the most remote populations. In rural Bangladesh, people depend on it as their primary source of information.
Read Workshop on COVID-19 held for Dalits
Since the lockdown is going on and the community radio stations have been broadcasting COVID-19 related programme through community service announcement (CSA) Radio Spots, Jingle, Drama, magazine, interviews of Upazila and District Corona Prevention Committee, District and Upazila Administration, and vaccination team on COVID-19 and community people’s voices too.
Community Radio broadcasters are working by maintaining a close liaison with the Local Corona Committees, Communities, District, and Upazila Administration for updates. Community Radios have restricted visitors’ entry in the premises, make the security alert, monitor body temperature of broadcasters, and disinfecting equipment and other accessories frequently and regularly.
The Community Radios are broadcasting programme with special emphasis to provide COVID-19 vaccine to the disadvantaged and marginalised community people and ensure government incentive package for the most vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalised community during the lockdown.
Community people are making phone calls and sending SMS during the live broadcasting to share their queries.
They are maintaining social distancing, handwashing with soap, and avoiding all public gatherings.
National print and online dailies have published the initiatives that are being fostered by the community Radios to prevent the second wave of COVID–19 pandemic.
BNNRC has been working for adaptation and coping with the new normal situation of COVID-19 pandemic demands and reset new objectives to enhance the capabilities of affected communities through an equity lens for adapting, coping, surviving with the new normal situation.
Read Community radio stations start broadcasting on flash flood
Khaleda doing better as her fever subsides
The health condition of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who was infected with coronavirus, has improved further as her fever subsided, said party vice chairman and her medical team member DR AZM Zahid Hossain on Tuesday night.
Talking to reporters in front of the BNP chief’s Gulshan residence after examining her health condition, he said “Today (Tuesday) is the 13th day of Khaleda Zia's corona infection. By the grace of Allah, she had no fever in the last 24 hours.”
Zahid said Khaleda has normal body temperature as her fever subsided on Sunday.
Also read: Khaleda Zia infected with Covid-19
“Her (Khaleda’s) breathing and saturation is very good. Her taste in food is the same as before. She told us she’s now feeling better," he added.
Professor AZM Zahid Hossain and Dr Al Mamun entered Khaleda Zia's Gulshan house around 9:30pm and stayed there for nearly two hours.
Also read: Khaleda’s CT scan report largely good: Doctor
Zahid said the medical board will take a decision about her next course of treatment on completion of her 14th days of infection after conducting some tests.
He said the BNP chief urged all to pray for her speedy recovery.
Also read: Nine infected with coronavirus at BNP chief Khaleda’s house
Khaleda underwent the Covid test last week as eight other people at her residence were infected with the virus and her report came out positive.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year. Later, the government extended her release twice.
Free oxygen service of Swechchhasebak League inaugurated
Bangladesh Awami Swechchhasebak League will provide free oxygen service to the patients infected with coronavirus as lockdown is imposed due to the exacerbation of the Corona epidemic.
The inauguration programme of the free oxygen service programme was held on Tuesday at the Kalabagan Sports Club premises.
Presidium member of Bangladesh Awami League Public Leader Adv. Jahangir Kabir Nanak was present as the chief guest at the inaugural function.
Read Indian capital gasps for oxygen
Founding President of Swechchhasebak League agriculturist Bahauddin Nasim said, "We all need to protect ourselves from the corona by wearing masks and following hygiene rules."
Saying Awami Swechchhasebak League a humanitarian organization, he said the organisation has been giving importance in humanitarian activities in addition to political activities sincd its birth.
The Swechchhasebak League has earlier provided ten free ambulances and two freezing ambulances while it is providing 24-hour telemedicine services with 43 doctors.
Read Why Shouldn’t You Store Oxygen Cylinder at Home During COVID-19 Pandemic?
"These facilities will be further expanded if necessary. Today, the way the Awami Swechchhasebak League is standing by the people in danger through the free oxygen service is a great initiative. We welcome it on behalf Awami League," he added.
The organisation informed that anyone calling 0961199777 hotline number will be provided free oxygen cylinder by Swechchhasebak League.
President of the organization Nirmal Ranjan Guha presided while general secretary Afzalur Rahman Babu conducted the opening ceremony.
Read 3 shops fined in Cumilla for selling oxygen cylinders at high price
‘No place for you’: Indian hospitals buckle amid virus surge
Seema Gandotra, sick with the coronavirus, gasped for breath in an ambulance for 10 hours, as it tried unsuccessfully at six hospitals in India’s sprawling capital to find an open bed. By the time she was admitted, it was too late, and the 51-year-old died hours later.
Rajiv Tiwari, whose oxygen levels began falling after he tested positive for the virus, has the opposite problem: He identified an open bed, but the 30-something resident of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh can’t get to it. “There is no ambulance to take me to hospital,” he said.
Such tragedies are familiar from surges in other parts of the world — but were largely unknown in India, which was able to prevent a collapse in its health system last year through a harsh lockdown. But now they are everyday occurrences in the vast country, which is seeing its largest surge of the pandemic so far and watching its chronically underfunded health system crumble.
Tests are delayed. Medical oxygen is scarce. Hospitals are understaffed and overflowing. Intensive care units are full. Nearly all ventilators are in use, and the dead are piling up at crematoriums and graveyards. India recorded over 250,000 new infections and over 1,700 deaths in the past 24 hours alone, and the U.K. announced a travel ban on most visitors from the country this week. Overall, India has reported more than 15 million cases and some 180,000 deaths — and experts say these numbers are likely an undercounts.
India’s wave of cases is contributing to a worldwide rise in infections as many places experience deepening crises, such as Brazil and France, spurred in part by new, more contagious variants, including one first detected in India. More than a year into the pandemic, global deaths have passed 3 million and are climbing again, running at nearly 12,000 per day on average. At the same time, vaccination campaigns have seen setbacks in many places — and India’s surge has only exacerbated that: The country is a major vaccine producer but was forced it to delay deliveries of shots to focus on its domestic demand.
Also read: Indian capital gasps for oxygen
Bhramar Mukherjee, a biostatistician at the University of Michigan who has been tracking India’s pandemic, said India failed to learn from surges elsewhere and take anticipatory measures.
When new infections started dipping in September, authorities thought the worst of the pandemic was over. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan even declared in March that the country had entered the “endgame” — but he was already behind the curve: Average weekly cases in Maharashtra state, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, had tripled in the previous month.
Mukherjee was among those who had urged authorities to take advantage of cases being low earlier in the year to speed up vaccinations. Instead officials dithered in limiting huge gatherings during Hindu festivals and refused to delay ongoing elections in the eastern West Bengal state, where experts fear that large, unmasked crowds at rallies will fuel the spread of the virus.
Now India’s two largest cities have imposed strict lockdowns, the pain of which will fall inordinately on the poor. Many have already left major cities, fearing a repeat of last year, when an abrupt lockdown forced many migrant workers to walk to their home villages or risk starvation.
New Delhi, the capital, is rushing to convert schools into hospitals. Field hospitals in hard-hit cities that had been abandoned are being resuscitated. India is trying to import oxygen and has started to divert oxygen supplies from industry to the health system.
Also read: India's capital to lock down as nation's virus cases top 15M
It remains to be seen whether these frantic efforts will be enough. New Delhi’s government-run Sanjay Gandhi Hospital is increasing its beds for COVID-19 patients from 46 to 160. But R. Meneka, the official coordinating the COVID-19 response at the hospital, said he wasn’t sure if the facility had the capacity to provide oxygen to that many beds.
The government-run hospital at Burari, an industrial hub in the capitals’ outskirts, only had oxygen for two days Monday, and found that most vendors in the city had run out, said Ramesh Verma, who coordinates the COVID-19 response there.
“Every minute, we keep getting hundreds of calls for beds,” he said.
Kamla Devi, a 71-year-old diabetic, was rushed to a hospital in New Delhi when her blood sugar levels fell last week. On returning home, her levels plummeted again but this time, there were no beds. She died before she could be tested for the virus. “If you have corona(virus) or if you don’t, it doesn’t matter. The hospitals have no place for you,” said Dharmendra Kumar, her son.
Laboratories were unprepared for the steep rise in demand for testing that came with the current surge, and everyone was “caught with their pants down,” said A. Velumani, the chairman and managing director of Thyrocare, one of India’s largest private testing labs. He said that the current demand was three times that of last year.
Also read: India records over 260,000 daily COVID-19 cases, tally at 14,788,109
India’s massive vaccination drive is also struggling. Several states have flagged shortages, although the federal government has claimed there are enough stocks.
India said last week that it would allow the use of all COVID-19 shots that had been greenlit by the World Health Organization or regulators in the United States, Europe, Britain or Japan. On Monday, it said that it would soon expand vaccinations to include every adult in the country, an estimated 900 million people. But with vaccine in short global supply, it isn’t clear when Indian vaccine makers will have the capacity to meet these goals. Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech said it was scaling up to make 700 million doses each year.
Meanwhile, Shahid Malik, who works at a small supplier of oxygen, said that the demand for medical oxygen had increased by a factor of 10. His phone has been ringing continuously for two days. By Monday, the shop still had oxygen but no cylinders.
He answered each call with the same message: “If you have your own cylinder, come pick up the oxygen. If you don’t, we can’t help you.”
Watchdog: Media freedom has deteriorated during pandemic
There’s been a “dramatic deterioration” of press freedom since the pandemic started to tear across the world, Reporters Without Borders said in its annual report published Tuesday.
The group’s new World Press Freedom Index, which evaluated the press situations in 180 countries, painted a stark picture and concluded that 73% of the world’s nations have serious issues with media freedoms.
It says countries have used the coronavirus pandemic, which erupted in China in late 2019, “as grounds to block journalists’ access to information, sources and reporting in the field.”
Also read: Media Freedom Coalition concerned over Myanmar military’s efforts to muzzle media
This is particularly the case in Asia, the Mideast and Europe, the media group said.
“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors. In response to the virality of disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and via social media, journalism provides the most effective means of ensuring that public debate is based on a diverse range of established facts.”
Also read: Bangladesh drops one notch in World Press Freedom Index
Issues have also arisen from a drop in public trust in journalism itself. The group said 59% of people polled in 28 countries claimed that journalists “deliberately try to mislead the public by reporting information they know to be false.”
EU agency links J&J shot to rare clots, says odds favor use
The European Union’s drug regulatory agency said Tuesday that it found a “possible link” between Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine and extremely rare blood clots and that a warning should be added to the label. But experts at the agency reiterated that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks.
The European Medicines Agency made those determinations after a very small number of blood clot cases in people who had gotten the vaccine were reported in the United States. The agency said a warning about the blood clots should be added to labels for the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and that these rare blood disorders should be considered “very rare side effects of the vaccine.”
The EMA, which oversees the use of pharmaceutical products in 27 countries with a combined population of about 448 million, also recommended a label change for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after finding a link between it and rare blood clots. In both cases, the agency said the benefits of being immunized against COVID-19 still outweighed the very small risks of recipients developing the unusual clots.
Last week, Johnson & Johnson halted its European roll-out of the vaccine after U.S. officials recommended a pause in the vaccine, when they detected six very rare blood clot cases among nearly 7 million people who had been vaccinated.
European officials said they considered all currently available evidence from the U.S., which consisted of eight reports of serious cases of rare blood clots associated with low blood platelets, including one death. All of the cases occurred in people under age 60, but the EMA said that it hadn’t been able to identify any specific risk factors.
Also read: Fauci says he expects J&J vaccine to resume later this week
Last week, J&J halted its European rollout of its one-dose vaccine after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended officials pause its use while the rare blood clot cases are examined. Officials identified six cases of the highly unusual blood clots among nearly 7 million people who were immunized with the shot in the U.S.
Johnson & Johnson advised European governments to store their doses until the EU drug regulator issued guidance on their use; widespread use of the shot in Europe has not yet started.
The delay was a further blow to vaccination efforts in the European Union, which have been plagued by supply shortages, logistical problems and concerns over unusual blood clots also in a small number of people who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Experts worry the temporary halt on J&J’s shot could further shake vaccine confidence and complicate worldwide COVID-19 immunization efforts.
Last week, South Africa suspended its use of the vaccine in the wake of the U.S. pause, and countries including Italy, Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark and Croatia put their J&J doses into storage.
The blood clots linked to the J&J vaccine are occurring in unusual parts of the body, such as veins that drain blood from the brain. Those patients also have abnormally low levels of blood platelets, a condition normally linked to bleeding, not clotting.
Aso read: J&J vaccine to remain in limbo while officials seek evidence
In its statement, the EMA said the cases it reviewed of unusual blood clots in people who received the J&J shot “were very similar to the cases that occurred with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.”
With the AstraZeneca vaccine, scientists in Norway and Germany have suggested that some people are experiencing an abnormal immune system response, forming antibodies that attack their own platelets.
It’s not yet clear if there might be a similar mechanism with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, as well as a Russian COVID-19 vaccine and one from China, are made with the same technology. They train the immune system to recognize the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. To do that, they use a cold virus, called an adenovirus, to carry the spike gene into the body.
“Suspicion is rising that these rare cases may be triggered by the adenovirus component of the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines,” said Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Edinburgh. She said that while more data was needed, “it remains the case that for the vast majority of adults in Europe and the USA, the risks associated with contracting COVID-19 far, far outweigh any risk of being vaccinated.”
Aso read: Australia won’t buy J&J coronavirus vaccine
On Monday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 5 million new cororavirus cases were confirmed worldwide last week, the highest-ever number in a single week. He noted that cases and hospitalizations among younger people were “increasing at an alarming rate.”
The European Medicines Agency, which regulates drugs used in European Union member nations, said last month there was a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots but said the benefits of vaccination far outweighed the risks of COVID-19. It noted the risk is less than the blood clot risk that healthy women face from birth control pills.
The European Union ordered 200 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson for 2021 and EU officials had hoped the one-shot vaccine could be used both to boost the continent’s lagging vaccination rates and to protect hard-to-reach populations, like migrant workers and the homeless.
Last month, the African Union announced it signed a deal to buy up to 400 million doses of the J&J vaccine. Johnson & Johnson also has a deal to supply up to 500 million doses to the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative that helps get vaccines to the world’s poor.
Aso read: Company at heart of J&J vaccine woes has series of citations
Any concerns about the J&J vaccine would be another unwelcome complication for COVAX and for the billions of people in developing countries depending on the program. COVAX recently was hit by supply issues after its biggest supplier, the Serum Institute of India, announced it would delay exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine for several months due to a surge of cases on the subcontinent.
Domestic flights resume Wednesday
Flight operations on domestic routes, except for Cox's Bazar, will resume from Wednesday (April 21, 2021) on a 'limited scale' amid the ongoing lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB), informed UNB about the development and shared three specific reasons for the move.
Also read: Bangladesh to operate special flights to carry overseas workers
He said it was taken to facilitate the communication of expatriate workers across the country, mitigate the loss suffered by the aviation industry and to ease the travel of industry workers as factories are open.
He added that flights must be operated on a limited range in compliance with health regulations.
Also read: CAAB to suspend international flights from Apr 14
On April 3, CAAB decided to suspend flight operations on domestic routes during the lockdown period.
All types of domestic flight operations remained suspended from April 5 since the enforcement of the lockdown.
Read US-Bangla to operate international flights on four routes from Saturday
Indian capital gasps for oxygen
Believe it or not, rising Covid-19 cases have left the Indian capital's medical infrastructure on the brink of collapse. Several hospitals in the city are left with just a few hours of oxygen, the Chief Minister of Delhi said on Tuesday, prompting the High Court to slam the federal government for not banning the industrial use of the life-supporting gas immediately.
On Tuesday, India reported as many as 259,170 Covid-19 cases and 1,761 fatalities in the past 24 hours, the highest daily death toll since the pandemic broke out over a year ago. The national capital alone reported over 30,000 new Covid cases and some 250 deaths.
Also read: India's capital to lock down as nation's virus cases top 15M
"Serious oxygen crisis persists in Delhi. I again urge the Centre (federal government) to urgently provide oxygen to Delhi. Some hospitals are left with just a few hours of oxygen," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, after a number of leading private hospitals claimed that their oxygen supplies will last for a maximum of 8-12 hours.
Local TV channels also beamed footage of hundreds of Delhi residents queuing up in hospitals, begging for beds for their loved ones with Covid-19 positive reports.
Also read: India records over 260,000 daily COVID-19 cases, tally at 14,788,109
Taking cognizance of the media reports and Kejriwal's tweets, the Delhi High Court also came down heavily on the federal government and questioned its decision to implement a ban on the industrial use of oxygen for Covid patients only from April 22. "Economic interests can't override human lives. Else we are heading for a disaster," the court said.
"Out of 130 crore, there are less than two crore official cases. Even if it's five times, that means only 10 crore cases. We should protect the remaining people. At this rate, we might lose one crore people. We should act fast. We are not here to run the government but you have to be sensitive to the situation," a two-judge bench said.
Also read: Covid-19: Global cases near 142 million, deaths top 3 million
UNB had earlier reported that the Covid-19 pandemic has suddenly turned India into a Covid vaccine importer from a mass exporter. And the government has turned to foreign vaccine producers for inoculating the citizens. The Sputnik vaccine from Russia, officials had said, would arrive next month.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the world's largest Covid inoculation programme on January 16. Two 'Made in India' jabs, one developed by the Serum Institute in collaboration with AstraZeneca, and the other by Bharat Biotech, are being given.
Bank borrowers’ repayment relaxed until June 30
Bank borrowers can repay their loans until June 30 instead of the earlier deadline of March 31 without being defaulters.
A Bangladesh Bank circular, issued on Tuesday, gave this relaxation to the bank borrowers.
Also read: BB further relaxes loan repayments to financial institutions
It said the measure was taken considering the negative impact of coronavirus on Bangladesh's economy.
In the existing situation, those who will face trouble in repaying their loan installments by March 2021, can make their repayments until June 30 on the basis of bank-client relation.
Also read: BB relaxes loan repayment method for coronavirus
“In this case, their loans would not be classified,” it said, adding that other policies will remain applicable in case of calculating the loans, lease, interest on advances and profits while no penalty interest or extra fee will be charged.
Dhallywood superstar Alamgir hospitalised with Coronavirus
Nine-time National Award winner actor Alamgir has been hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19.
His wife and eminent singer Runa Laila shared the news via a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon.
"Alamgir Sahab has tested positive for Covid 19. He’s being treated in a local hospital by a team of excellent doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are monitoring him and taking very good care. He is in excellent spirits and is doing well. Masha’Allah," Runa Laila wrote on Facebook.
Also read: Eminent film actor Wasim passes away
The 71-year-old actor has already taken two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
"We as a family would like you to join us in prayer for his early and complete recovery. Our combined good wishes and prayers will heal him quickly. Insha’Allah. God is merciful. God is great. Subhan Allah," she added.
Also read: Kabori laid to eternal rest
On February 14, Alamgir and Runa Laila, along with their children including singer Akhi Alamgir, received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine. They took the second dose on April 17.
Alamgir is considered one of the greatest actors in the Bangladesh film industry. He received nine National Film Awards - seven as a lead actor and two for best supporting actor.