Ekushey Padak and National Film Award winner, freedom fighter and renowned cultural activist Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu has tested positive for COVID-19. The eminent cultural personality was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMU) in the capital on Friday, with symptoms of the coronavirus. The test result came out positive on Saturday. "Our Dhaka DocLab chairman Nasiruddin Yousuff is currently receiving treatment at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMU). He is advised to take rest and he requests his admirers and associates not to panic at all. We are seeking prayers from everyone for his speedy recovery," Dhaka DocLab coordinator Shoriful Islam Shaon told UNB. One of the pioneers and most respected personalities in the theatre arena of Bangladesh, Nasiruddin Yousuff founded Dhaka Theatre in 1973 and later Bangladesh Gram Theatre along with the late playwright Selim Al Deen. Yousuff is currently serving Dhaka DocLab as its chairman, Bangladesh Gram Theatre and Dhaka Theatre as president and Bangladesh Centre of International Theatre (BCITI) as organising secretary, to name a few. A former president of the Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, he has also served as the president and director of the Committee for Cultural Identity and Development (CIDC). In his illustrious career, Nasiruddin Yousuff received the National Film Award as the Best Director for his critically acclaimed film Guerrilla (2011). He was awarded Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in 2010 for his outstanding contribution towards the development of the theatre industry in Bangladesh. Also read:9,600 unemployed cultural activists get financial assistance during pandemic: State Minister

Eight-time National Film Award-winning music director Alauddin Ali died at a hospital in the capital on Sunday afternoon at the age of 67.