For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free, at-home COVID-19 tests. But the White House push may do little to ease the omicron surge, and experts say Washington will have to do a lot more to fix the country’s long-troubled testing system. The website, COVIDTests.gov, allows people to order four at-home tests per household, regardless of citizenship status, and have them delivered by mail. But the tests won’t arrive for seven to 12 days, after omicron cases are expected to peak in many parts of the country. The White House also announced Wednesday that it will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free at pharmacies and community health centers. Both initiatives represent the kind of mass government investments long seen in parts of Europe and Asia, but delayed in the U.S. Read:COVID deaths and cases are rising again at US nursing homes “Should we have done more testing earlier? Yes, but we’re doing more now," President Joe Biden said Wednesday, recapping his first year in office. Experts say the plan to distribute 1 billion tests is a good first step, but it must become a regular part of the pandemic response. In the same way that it has made vaccines free and plentiful, the government must use its purchasing power to assure a steady test supply, they say. “The playbook for rapid tests should look exactly like the playbook for vaccines,” said Zoe McLaren, a health economist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “They’re both things that help keep cases down and help keep COVID under control.” A home test two-pack commonly sells for more than $20 at the store — if you can find one, amid the omicron-triggered rush to get tested. Since last week, insurance companies have been required to cover the cost of up to eight at-home rapid tests bought at drugstores or online retailers. The four tests per home made available through the government website may not go very far in some households. Kristen Keymont, 30, is a voice and piano teacher who teaches online and shares a house in Ipswich, Massachusetts, with her partner and two other people. When one of her housemates tested positive just before Christmas, she and her partner spent $275 buying more than a dozen tests. “One test each is nice, I guess,” she said. “I’m glad we have them, but we’re still going to need to buy more if one of us gets exposed.” It would be better, she said, if requests were linked to each person rather than each residential address. Also, some people who live in buildings with multiple units had their requests for tests rejected, with the website saying tests had already been ordered for that address. As those complaints surfaced on social media, people began sharing advice on how to enter apartment or unit numbers in a way that the website would accept them. There have been nearly 50 million visits to the test-ordering website since it went online Tuesday, according to a federal analytics site. The U.S. bungled its initial rollout of government-made COVID-19 tests in the early days of the outbreak and has never really gotten back on track. While private companies are now producing more than 250 million at-home tests per month, that is still not enough to allow most Americans to frequently test themselves. The Biden administration focused most of its early COVID-19 efforts on rolling out vaccines. As infections fell last spring, demand for testing plummeted and many manufacturers began shutting down plants. Only in September — after the delta surge was in full swing — did the Biden administration announce its first federal contracts designed to jump-start home test production. Countries like Britain and Germany purchased and distributed billions of the tests soon after they became available last year. “If you leave the manufacturers to their own devices, they’re just going to respond to what’s happening right now,” said Dr. Amy Karger, a testing specialist at the University of Minnesota Medical School. “And then there’s not a lot of bandwidth if something surprising happens, as it did with omicron.” Even with government intervention, the U.S. faces a massive testing load because of its population, which is five times larger than Britain's. The U.S. would need 2.3 billion tests per month for all teens and adults to test themselves twice per week. That’s more than double the number of at-home tests the administration plans to distribute over several months. Dr. David Michaels, a former member of Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, said the administration will probably need to request more federal money to fund testing for years to come. “Congress was willing to put trillions of dollars into infrastructure primarily to improve transportation. This is infrastructure,” said Michaels, a public health professor at George Washington University. “We need billions more in testing to save lives and maintain the economy.” For now, testing will probably continue to be strained. And even the most bullish proponents say the U.S. will have to carefully weigh where home tests can have the greatest benefit — for instance, by dispensing them to those most vulnerable to the virus.  Read:Biden says nation weary from COVID but rising with him in WH “The fact is we just don’t have that kind of mass testing capacity in the U.S.” said Dr. Michael Mina, chief science officer for home testing service eMed, who once called for using billions of tests per month to crush the pandemic. “We should now be thinking about how to use these tests in a strategic way. We don’t want to just dilute them out across the population.” Mina was until recently a professor at Harvard and has informally advised federal officials on testing. Mina and others acknowledge widespread use of rapid tests is not without its downsides. Results from at-home tests are seldom reported to health authorities, giving an imperfect picture of the spread and size of the pandemic. More than 2 million test results a day are being reported to U.S. health officials, but nearly all of them come from laboratory-processed tests. Some researchers estimate the real number of daily tests is roughly 5 million, when accounting for at-home ones.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday gifted masks to journalists who attended a media briefing noting that safety comes first during COVID-19 situation.  The Foreign Minister handed over the masks to President of Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) Pantho Rahaman and its General Secretary AKM Moinuddin.  State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, among others, were present.  Also read: FM's book 'The Foreign Policy of the Twenty-First Century: Development and Leadership' published Earlier, the Foreign Minister briefed the media on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's official visit to the US to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The Prime Minister will leave here on Friday to begin her two-week visit to New York and Washington DC with a stopover in Finland. 

A mobile court has fined 32 people in the district for not wearing masks amid an alarming surge of Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh. The dawn-to-dusk drive was conducted in nine upazilas of the district on Friday. The mobile court led by additional district magistrate Mohammad Shahinuzzaman collected Tk 5,200 in fines from the 32 violators of Covid-safety protocols. The government has asked all people to abide by the health guidelines to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Bangladesh confirmed its first cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18, but it has been seeing a sharp rise in both new cases and deaths in recent months. Bangladesh added 197 fatalities to its national tally on Friday as horrific Covid hospitalisations and deaths continue to soar. READ: Bagerhat residents benefit from door-to-door sale of essentials   The country is averaging 200-plus single-day fatalities for the past three weeks. After weathering the first wave of the pandemic, Bangladesh is now yet to see any tangible signs of improvement in the situation. However, the country is now reporting 10,602 new cases on an average each day – 73% of the peak. Bangladesh also recorded 8,465 new cases on Friday after testing 40,641 samples, down from 12,606 logged a week earlier on August 6. The country reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatalities – 264 – on August 5 and 10, and 16,230 infections on July 28. READ: 7 die in separate accidents in Bagerhat Bangladesh has been experiencing a surge of Covid-related cases and deaths since June 2021.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has urged the people to wear masks for protection against Covid infections saying that the mask is more effective than the vaccine. Quader was addressing a function at Bangabandhu Avenue on Thursday organized by the party's relief and social welfare sub-committee on the occasion of distributing Covid safety materials among party’s delegates. He asked the sub-committee to form teams at grassroots level to motivate people to wear masks properly. Also read: Quader urges BNP to stop spreading lies about Covid vaccine “We must build fortress of awareness in every house,” he said. Saying that BNP is constantly lying about vaccines, the AL leader said the country has enough jabs it needs now and more vaccines will come from different countries in phases.  Quader expressed hope that there would be no crisis with the vaccine.  Responding to a question from reporters about wealth statements from MPs and ministers Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is running an honest and transparent government. Her government's stance against irregularities and corruption is very strict and clear.  Quader said that no one including the MPs and ministers is above accountability and the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) is free to investigate and take action against any crime as an independent body. The AL leader said that the ACC has already taken action against many leaders and activists and MPs, adding that the government has not interfered to protect anyone. He said none should have any objection in submitting the statement of assets. “I am ready to give the statement of my wealth myself,” he said. Quader also said that the ACC can also take action if it finds any discrepancy in the tax returns filed every year. Also read: 'Only program now is to stand by the people': Obaidul Quader Awami League Presidium Member Begum Matia Chowdhury presided over the function.  AL leaders Abdur Rahman, SM Kamal Hossain, Sujit Roy Nandi, Reazul Kabir Kausar and Syed Abdul Awal Shamim, Kulsum Smriti MP,  President of the Institute of Diploma Engineers MA Hamid and General Secretary Shamsur Rahman also spoke. Later, the leaders distributed corona protection materials among the delegates.  

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport and Corporation(BIWTC) authority has temporarily suspended an officer Sunday for not wearing a mask while attending a program with the State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury. BIWTC ordered the suspension of naval officer Md Jakir Hossain in an office notification issued today. READ: Super Cyclone ‘Amphan’: BIWTC suspends ferry services The violation occurred on July 15 during the inauguration two ferries, Kadam and Kunjalata, by the state minister at Shimulia ferry terminal. All other officials of BIWTA and BIWTC except Zakir were seen maintaining health guidelines, said the notice. The flouting of health safety rule was spotted in a photo published by Somoy TV. By not wearing mask Zakir the minister, chairman of the organization, special guests and everyone present at the program at risk, which is tantamount to defying government’s order and goes against the discipline of government service, said the notice. READ: Bus driver who knocks down BIWTC official held

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks in some cases, too. The new guidance represents another carefully calibrated step on the road back to normal from the coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 570,000 people in U.S. For most of the past year, the CDC had been advising Americans to wear masks outdoors if they are within 6 feet of each other. The change comes as more than half of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated. “It’s the return of freedom,” said Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who welcomed the change. “It’s the return of us being able to do normal activities again. We’re not there yet, but we’re on the exit ramp. And that’s a beautiful thing.” Also read: Around 6,000 Americans contracted Covid after being fully vaccinated, 74 died: CDC More people need to be vaccinated, and concerns persist about variants and other possible shifts in the epidemic. But Saag said the new guidance is a sensible reward following the development and distribution of effective vaccines and about 140 million Americans stepping forward to get their shots. The CDC, which has been cautious in its guidance during the crisis, essentially endorsed what many Americans have already been doing over the past several weeks. The CDC says that fully vaccinated or not, people do not have to wear masks outdoors when they walk, bike or run alone or with members of their household. They can also go maskless in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people. But from there, the CDC has differing guidance for people who are fully vaccinated and those who are not. Unvaccinated people — defined by the CDC as those who have yet to receive both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson formula — should wear masks at outdoor gatherings that include other unvaccinated people. They also should keep using masks at outdoor restaurants. Fully vaccinated people do not need to cover up in those situations, the CDC says. Also read: Fully vaccinated people can travel safely again, CDC says However, everyone should keep wearing masks at crowded outdoor events such as concerts or sporting events, the CDC says. And the agency continues to recommend masks at indoor public places, such as hair salons, restaurants, shopping centers, museums and movie theaters. Dr. Babak Javid, a physician-scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, said the new CDC guidance is sensible. “In the vast majority of outdoor scenarios, transmission risk is low,” Javid said. Javid has favored outdoor mask-wearing requirements because he believes they increase indoor mask-wearing, but he said Americans can understand the relative risks and make good decisions. “The key thing is to make sure people wear masks indoors” while in public spaces, he said. He added: “I’m looking forward to mask-free existence.” “The timing is right because we now have a fair amount of data about the scenarios where transmission occurs,” said Mercedes Carnethon, a professor and vice chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. What’s more, she said, “the additional freedoms may serve as a motivator” for people to get vaccinated.

No. For a couple reasons, masks and social distancing will still be recommended for some time after people are vaccinated.

A mobile court of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has fined 25 people for not wearing masks in the city' Dhanmondi on Monday.

The Covid-19 caseload stood at 54,992,571 on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

UNDP Bangladesh has launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #MaskUpBangladesh to encourage the use of masks.