Coronavirus lockdown
Covid claims 61 more lives, infects 1,914 others in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 61 more coronavirus-related deaths and 1,914 new cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, showing a slight downtrend in daily fatalities and an uptick in infections.
The latest figures pushed up the death toll to 11,705 and the caseload to 7,65,596, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, the infection rate fell to 8.71 percent from Monday’s 8.95 percent while the fatality rate rose to 1.53 percent.
Bangladesh has recorded less than 70 virus related deaths since Friday. The body count soared to over 100 during April 16-19 and on April 25 but since then the daily fatalities have been falling gradually.
Bangladesh has so far tested 55,40,394 samples, 21,984 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS handout data, provided this morning.
There has been a steady decline in tests between April 28 and May 2, leading to fewer case counts. New cases declined between April 26 (3,306) and May 2 (1,359) before an upward curve in the next two following days.
So far, 90.78 percent of the total patients (6,95,032) have recovered, including 3,870 new ones. The recovery number has been on the wane between April 28 and May 2 and picked up again from Monday.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Around 21 pc of total deaths reported in April alone
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year, before confirming the first death 10 days later.
21% of total deaths in April
April has been the worst month for Bangladesh with 2,404 fatalities, accounting for 20.99 percent of the total death toll, and 147,837 new cases, according to DGHS.
In Bangladesh, 568 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in January, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division saw most of the deaths – 6,812 or 58.20 percent – of the total fatalities.
Twenty-eight of the 61 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 18 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown continues till May 16
The ongoing lockdown imposed on April 5 has been extended until May 16 but people are hardly following health safety rules.
Also read: Lockdown to continue until May 16, intra-district public transport services from May 6
They are still crowding shopping malls and markets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims. Photos and videos shot by UNB correspondents show overcrowded shopping places and total indifference towards health guidelines.
There will hardly be any positive outcome if the people don’t follow health rules to protect themselves and others around them from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, intra-district public transport services will be allowed to resume from May 6.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh kicked off its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose was announced of remaining suspended from April 26.
Also read: Vaccines to be procured at any expense, says PM Hasina
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam had assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
In the last 24 hours, 38 people have received the first dose and 83,540 have received the second dose of Covid vaccine, said the DGHS handout.
The registration process for receiving the vaccine jab remains shut.
Vaccine production
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on April 28 approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on April 29 approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, a day after approving the emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine of Russia.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said the Chinese government is working to start delivering Covid-19 vaccine doses before Eid-ul-Fitr although a 5-day May Day holiday is underway in China.
Also read: Dhaka hopeful of getting vaccine doses from China before Eid
Meanwhile Health Minister Zahid Maleque shared a more specific date – May 10.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharma and Health Care Pharma have the capacity of producing vaccines, and the Chinese vaccine could be produced locally, Director General of DGDA Mahbubur Rahman told reporters.
On April 28, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division noted that the government will purchase vaccine technology from Russian and China through direct procurement method (DPM).
Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts say lockdown likely to pay off
Experts think that the ongoing lockdown in Bangladesh appears to be paying off as both the active coronavirus cases and death toll have marked a sharp fall over the last few days in the country.
They, however, fear that the benefits might be short-lived ones as the government has allowed shopping malls to reopen and is thinking of resuming public transport services soon though the virus is yet to come under control.
The analysts warned that the Covid situation is likely to worsen again with the hordes of shoppers and holidaymakers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the largest religious festivals of Muslims to be celebrated in the middle of this month.
They advised the government to announce a stimulus package for the transport workers instead of resuming transport service, enforce the law to make people to wear masks and maintain health safety rules and increase vigilance along the border to check any possible trespassing or illegal entry to Bangladesh from India to maintain the improved trend in the Covid situation.
The government imposed a complete countrywide lockdown on April 14 for a week to tackle the worsening Covid situation, and later it was extended up to May 5. But the government gave permission for reopening shops and malls across the country from April 25 amid lockdown.
Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Saturday the government is considering the resumption of public transport services in the country ahead of Eid.
Bangladesh’s health authorities reported 69 more deaths and 1,359 new cases in 24 hours until Sunday morning.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 69 more deaths, 1,359 new cases
The virus infection rate that increased to 23 percent early last month has now dropped to 9.60 percent on Sunday.
Lockdown proves to be effective
Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) of the DGHS, said the fall in the number of Covid cases and deaths has manifested that the ongoing lockdown has proved to be good.
“As the offices and mass transport service remains shut, people’s movement has declined, contributing to reducing the virus transmission,” he said
Bail, Ad-interim orders extended for 4 weeks: HC
Bail and all High Court ad-interim orders have been extended for the next four weeks, considering the lockdown and ongoing Covid situation.
Registrar general of the Supreme Court Md Ali Akbar issued a notice in this regard on Sunday.
The notice says the four week-extension will be effective on cases the High Court granted bail to the accused for a specific period or granted bail on condition of surrendering to a lower court or declared ad-interim order for a period.
On April 5 and April 18, through two different notices the Supreme Court has extended all ad-interim bails and orders for two weeks, twice.
On April 11, the Supreme Court declared on a notice that, from April 12 all the court and tribunals will be conducted virtually to settle all the bail and emergency criminal applications.
Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 69 more deaths, 1,359 new cases
The health authorities reported 69 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours until Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 11,569, as Bangladesh grapples to tackle the second wave of the pandemic.
Besides, 1,359 new cases were detected after examining 14,158 samples, the lowest number of tests since April 18, according to government data.
The health authorities have so far tested 5,498,979 samples. There has been a steady decline in the number of tests since April 28. New cases have been on the wane since April 26 but fell dramatically since April 28, data available on corona.gov.bd show.
However, the daily infection rate fell to 9.6 percent from Saturday’s 9.61 percent while the fatality rate rose to 1.52 percent from 1.51 percent a day before, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the new cases, the country’s total Covid-19 caseload now stands at 761,943, the DGHS handout said.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 that year.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 77 deaths, new cases 2,955
60 more die in Bangladesh as Covid continues its onslaught
The death toll from Covid-19 hit 11,510 in Bangladesh on Saturday as the country logged 60 more fatalities in 24 hours until Saturday morning, as all efforts to stop the pandemic have apparently gone in vain.
However, the country reported new cases of 1,452 during the 24-hour period ending at 8am, which was said to the lowest daily count in 48 days.
The overall infection tally reached 760,584 with the new cases and the positivity rate fell to 9.61% from Friday's 10.34%. But the death rate remained unchanged at 1.51%, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On March 14, Bangladesh reported 1,159 cases in 24 hours. The country's infection rate came down below 10% on Thursday after over a month, as it reported a 7.68% infection rate on March 17 and it rose to 10.45% the following day. Since then, the infection rate began an upward march.
Bangladesh on Friday reported its single-day Covid-19 death toll of 57, the lowest in 25 days.
According to the DGHS, 684,671 infected people have recovered from the disease so far and 3,245 of them in the past 24 hours.
The country conducted 15,117 new tests over the same period, which was 21,046 on Friday.
Bangladesh has so far carried out 548,4821 nationwide tests since reporting its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year the first death on the 18th of that month.
The country recorded 52 coronavirus-related deaths on April 5, 78 on April 27, and 77 on April 28, showing a downtrend. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
Also read: Global Covid-19 cases top 151 million
April remains cruel
April still remains to be the cruel month for Bangladesh since the outbreak of the pandemic last year as 147,837 cases of infections and over 2,404 deaths were officially registered.
As the virus continues its onslaught, 568 people lost their lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,714 or 58.33%.
Twenty-eight of the 60 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 19 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown to continue until May 5
Given the surge in new infections and deaths from the virus, the government enforced a nationwide lockdown in early April. Having failed to contain the current surge, the government imposed a strict lockdown on April 11 and then extended it up to April 28.
Also read: Bangladesh extends lockdown until May 5
On Wednesday, the government issued a circular extending the lockdown up to May 5, as there is no improvement in a spike in Covid-19 infections.
Extended lockdown: 10am to 1 pm banking hours to continue
Bangladesh Bank has further extended the currently maintained limited banking transaction hours until May 5 in compliance with the government’s decision to extend the strict lockdown for one week more.
According to a Bangladesh Bank circular, issued on Wednesday, the current banking transactions hours from 10 am to 1 pm will continue till May 5 in accordance with the Cabinet Division’s memo on this matter.
Earlier, Bangladesh Bank in a circular on April 13 said, instructed the banks to operate general transactions from 10 am to 1 pm and keep open until 2:30 pm for necessary works every working day until April 21 and then it was extended until April 28.
Normally, banks operate from 10 am to 4 pm everyday.
Also read: Bangladesh extends lockdown until May 5
The new circular also said that all other instructions will remain unchanged as per the circular of April 13 where it was said that banks can keep one non-AD branch open within 2 km radius in the city corporation areas and in upazila level one branch of each bank can open on Thursday, Sunday and Tuesday.
The banks have to take measures to provide transport facilities for the staff during the period.
The BB circular also said, during the banking transaction hours, the banks have to ensure different kinds of services including clearing of cheques, withdrawal and deposits of money, money transfer, release of remittance, encashment of different instruments and also receipt of the payments of bills of different utilities.
BB said banks have to continue services like disbursement of loans, incentives, payment of salaries of different industries and also the purchase of export bills, loan sanction and distribution.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 77 deaths, new cases 2,955
The banks have to follow instructions in keeping the branches located in the port areas about the coronavirus in discussion with the local administration and other authorities, as per circular issued on August 5 last year, it said.
The banks have to operate their activities through limited staffs under a roster system.
They have to ensure operation of the ATM booths to facilitate transaction through cards by supply of adequate cash in the machines while the evening banking and weekly holiday banking activities will remain closed until further order, said the circular, said the circular issued on April 13.
As lockdown eases, people find their way around restrictions
Although the government in a fresh move extended the ongoing lockdown period from April 28 to May 5, the gradual easing of the lockdown conditions has been accompanied by people in the capital becoming more inclined to move about.
A rapid increase in Covid infections prompted the government to enforce a lockdown from early April which failed to achieve the intended result.
Later, the government went for a strict lockdown from April 11 and extended it to April 28.
Also read: Lockdown to be extended up to May 5: State Minister
On Monday, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain said the lockdown would be extended till May 5 as there is no improvement of the Covid-19 situation.
However, shopping malls opened this week and will remain open from 10am to 8pm during the extended period, he said.
Parts of Dhaka presented the old picture of congestion and chaos on Tuesday, even as the country reported 78 more coronavirus-related deaths and 3,031 new cases of Covid-19.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records 78 deaths, 3,031 new cases
A UNB photojournalist captured the scenes around the busy Gulistan area on the day.
Lockdown climbdown: 10am-9pm for shopping confirmed
Shops and shopping malls will be allowed to remain open from 10am to 9pm instead of earlier-announced 5pm amid the lockdown enforced by the government to contain the transmission of Covid-19.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Md Shariful Islam confirmed the matter.
Earlier on April 23, Cabinet Division issued a notice permitting shops and malls to reopen from April 25 maintaining proper safety protocols.
Also read: Pandemic in Bangladesh: Shops, malls reopen doors
The second phase of lockdown started on April 22 and is supposed to continue until April 28.
Earlier on April 5, public transports, shops and shopping malls were directed to remain shut in capital Dhaka as the country started a 7-day lockdown.
Talking to UNB, local and international health experts, however, predicted Bangladesh is unlikely to see any improvement in the Covid-19 situation before June next as the country is still in the grip of its second wave.
Also read: 'Strict’ lockdown again if health rules violated: Quader
Using a mathematical model, Bangladesh Como Modelling Group, a group of experts from both Bangladesh and Oxford University, also projected that the country will witness the similar infection rate intermittently till the end of May while the situation may improve in June.
Meanwhile, 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.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily deaths shoot past 100; new cases fall dramatically
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.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 745,322 coronavirus cases.
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.