COVID situation
Harassment in name of raids at hotel, restaurants unacceptable: FBCCI President
FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin has said that raids on hotels, restaurants and guest houses during the covid situation are unacceptable, calling it out as harassment.
“The owners of hotels, motels and restaurants are trying very hard to turn the wheel of their fortune despite being hit very hard by the pandemic. But harassment in the name of raids at these institutions are only increasing their miseries,” he said.
“These raids are absolutely unacceptable during the covid situation,” he said.
Read FBCCI donates Tk 8cr to Prime Minister’s two funds
He came up with these remarks while speaking as the chief guest at an eventful opening ceremony of The Rio Lounge, an upscale buffet restaurant on the eighth floor of Pink City in Gulshan on Friday evening.
The FBCCI president also praised the incentive packages provided to the entrepreneurs by the government during the pandemic.
“Many entrepreneurs are coming forward to invest in new businesses during this challenging time because of the incentive packages provided by the Prime Minister,” he said.
Read Bengal Group’s Jashim Uddin elected FBCCI president
In Argentina, doctors adapt as COVID-19 strains hospitals
Verónica Verdino, an Argentine doctor, helped a therapist insert a tube into the trachea of a COVID-19 patient during another hectic day in a hospital emergency room.
Verdino, 31, has become adept at the delicate procedure during the current outbreak of coronavirus cases that has filled clinics in Buenos Aires and nearby towns with patients.
A little over a year ago, before the pandemic hit Argentina, Verdino did not imagine that she would be performing so many intubations, and helping others with the same procedure, at the Llavallol Dr. Norberto Raúl Piacentini Hospital in the town of Lomas de Zamora, outside Buenos Aires.
Read:Why are so many babies dying of Covid-19 in Brazil?
Now doctors who used to be on duty in general wards have become experts in this and other complex techniques typical of intensive care specialists as they help patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19. Some wards have been converted into intensive care units because the outbreak is straining the health system.
The situation at the hospital where Verdino works is similar in many public and private health facilities in Buenos Aires and nearby towns, with an average of more than 20,000 infections and 400 deaths per day in recent weeks and 100% occupation of ICUs in some centers.
Doctors say they are seeing many younger patients, partly because youths are being infected with coronavirus variants at social gatherings, while older people are protected by vaccines they have received.
“We’re cutting corners everywhere ... We have all the illnesses other than COVID, plus this (coronavirus) wave that exploded,” Verdino told The Associated Press during a recent 24-hour shift.
The husband of the woman who was intubated by Verdino stared dejectedly through the glass from the other side of a door. Nearby, in another room, two patients lay connected to respirators. A few meters away, a man who had just died was placed in a black plastic bag.
A few days later, on another grueling shift, Verdino climbed onto a small bench next to the bed of a man she had tried to intubate, leaned over his chest and performed CPR in a desperate attempt to save his life. Several of her colleagues helped her.
Read:India reports 366,161 new COVID-19 cases
The patient died. Verdina and her colleague, Stephanie Muñoz, took time to prepare the man’s body and the room before his son viewed him through the window of the door.
Nurses describe a situation known as “warm bed”, in which a patient who has died is promptly replaced in a room by another seriously ill person.
General ward medics have also learned to master the use of complex drugs that keep patients sedated and to study electrocardiograms and CT scans, as well as to perform laryngoscopes. They do it as oxygen supplies become scarce in hospitals, which have formed networks to assist each other when they can.
“I was used to working a lot but this overwhelms you in everything,” said nurse Silvia Cardoso, who works with Verdino.
Cardoso said she was shocked by the number of young people who are hospitalized with serious symptoms, something that did not happen previously.
“It could be prevented,” she lamented, suggesting that some young people had not observed health protocols.
Read:Pfizer COVID-19 shot expanded to US children as young as 12
Police in some Argentine towns often break up clandestine parties. In restaurants that serve outdoors, tables full of diners are placed close to each other. Parks are full of people having picnics and playing sports. There are frequent social protests, including for higher wages, in Buenos Aires.
With people exhausted by quarantines and vaccination programs going slowly, politicians argue over issues such as whether to allow students back to class. During a peak of coronavirus cases, students went to school in Buenos Aires but were not allowed to do so in the city suburbs, creating a confusing situation.
Many doctors try to stay out of the political disputes, instead urging people to stick to measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Argentina has so far reported more than 67,300 confirmed deaths and more than 3.1 million people sickened by the disease.
If people don’t collaborate, “the point will come where the health system collapses,” Verdino said.
DU to hold virtual final exams if Covid situation remains unchanged
The Deans Committee of Dhaka University have decided to hold the final examinations of all academic years online if the coronavirus situation does not improve in the meantime.
The recommendation came from a virtual meeting of the committee comprising deans of all faculties.
Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, pro-vice-chancellor of the university, confirmed the news to UNB.
Read DU admission tests rescheduled amid pandemic
“ We are hoping that the Covid situation will improve by July. In that case, we will take examinations in person from 1 July. But if the status quo does not change favourably, we will go for online examinations,” he said.
He also added that the Deans of all the faculties have been asked to formulate strategies within two weeks on how the exams will be taken.
The teachers will be provided with necessary training about taking online examinations in the meantime, he claimed.
Read All professional MBBS final exams postponed
The deans' committee's recommendation will be finalised tomorrow at the meeting of the university's academic council, concluded the Pro VC.
The normal academic activities at Dhaka University have been at a standstill since March 18 last year due to the outbreak of coronavirus. This has been a reason of immense frustration among the University’s students, especially those studying in final year.
Read TSC Renovation: How will the new look be?
Covid situation in Bangladesh unlikely to improve before June: Experts
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, predicted by a group of local and international health experts.
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 a similar infection rate intermittently till the end of May while the situation may improve in June.
However, some local experts think the virus is yet to reach its peak as it is spreading fast in newer areas alarmingly since many people had returned to their village homes from corona hotspots before the government enforced the lockdown.
Talking to UNB, Dr Abu Jamil Faisel, a member of Bangladesh Como modelling group, said: “We’ve a projection that the current uptrend in Covid deaths and cases will continue erratically until the end of May. The situation may improve in June.”
He said they think the country is going through the peak of the fresh wave of the virus. “As per our projection, there’ll be a month of plateau and the country will witness the similar infection rate for two more weeks and then it’ll start flattening.”
Faisel said they projected that the infection rate will not substantially fall till the end of May. “But we couldn’t clearly project the death rate as it often fluctuates, and it depends on hospital management and some other factors. But it’s my personal assumption that the total death toll may surpass 12,000 at the end of May month.”
He said they shared their projection with the government. “We’re going to update the projection as we’re working on it.”
Dr Faisel, also a member of the public health expert team for the eight divisions formed by the government, said they recommended taking a coordinated and effective plan to break the cycle of the corona transmission.
“Cent percent mask use must be ensured and the number of the daily tests must be increased so that the positive cases can be detected fast for putting them in isolation. We also need to focus on contact tracing,” Dr Faisel said.
Also read: No risk of contracting Covid-19 due to vaccination: DGHS
Besides, he said, they suggested setting up field hospitals for ensuring better patient management at the initial stage of infection. “There should be dedicated ambulances for carrying Covid patients to hospitals.”
Strengthening preventive measures
Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general of the health directorate, said the peak of the virus depends on some factors. “If we can strictly maintain the preventive measures we’ve taken now, then we can expect to see a gradual fall in virus infection rate.”
She said the number of deaths is high but not the virus death rate. “As the infection number has increased, the number of deaths has also soared.”
Flora said the Coronavirus death rate was 1.53 before the fresh wave of the virus, but this has now come down to 1.43. “That means the number of deaths increased due to the rise in the number of infections.”
She said there is no alternative to controlling the transmission of the virus to lower the number of deaths. “We must strengthen our preventive measures to check the virus infections.”
Read Brac to launch antigen testing Saturday
Covid-19: Bangladesh reports record 112 daily deaths
Bangladesh again broke all previous records of Covid-19 deaths registering 112 fatalities in a 24-hour period until Monday morning.
The country saw over 100 deaths for the fourth consecutive day.
The latest fatalities pushed up the death tally to 10,497 with a mortality rate of 1.45 percent, according to a handout from the Directorate General of Health Services.
Also read: Covid-19 vaccine not a 'silver bullet': WHO Besides, 4,271 new cases were reported during the period after testing 24,152 samples. The infection rate was 17.68 percent, down from 19.06 percent on Sunday.
On Sunday, 19,404 samples were tested. The number was 34,630 on April 7 when the country recorded its highest single-day cases of 7,626.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020, and the first death on March 18 that year.
Covid-19: Bangladesh shatters single-day death count record again
Bangladesh is seeing an increase in coronavirus fatalities, breaking its single-day death count record for the third time in as many days on Monday.
The health authorities confirmed 83 deaths in the afternoon, surpassing Sunday’s figure of 78. The number was 77 on Saturday.
Also read:Shots in little arms: COVID-19 vaccine testing turns to kids
Fatalities from Covid-19 rose to 9,822 as the mortality rate remained static at 1.42 percent for the fourth consecutive day, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.
Bangladesh announced its first coronavirus death on March 18 last year. The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Between 8am Sunday and 8am Monday, 7,201 new cases were recorded, pushing up the caseload 691,957.
The infection rate jumped to 20.59 percent from 19.81 percent of Sunday’s. So far, 5,037,833 samples, including 34,968 in the last 24 hours, have been tested.
Bangladesh has been seeing record number of infections with daily case count surpassing 7,000-mark earlier this month before falling significantly on April 10 and April 11.
Also read:Are some Covid-19 vaccines more effective than others?
Meanwhile, 581,113 patients have recovered so far, including 4,523 in the last 24-hour period, the DGHS said.
Covid situation getting out of hand: BNP
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said the Coronavirus situation is going out of control as the government has failed to take any pragmatic step to contain the virus transmission.
“The coronavirus situation has taken a critical turn in Bangladesh, and it's getting out of hand only because of the government’s failure and indifference,” he said.
Also read:Fakhrul regrets BNP's failure to revitalise organisations
In a statement, the BNP leader also said the coronavirus pandemic has become more acute in the country this time than last year as the infections and fatalities of the deadly virus are growing at a geometric rate every day.
“But the government is failing to deal with the crisis as it did last year. The government has hastily enforced a lockdown or some restrictions for 7 days from April 5 without any pragmatic thought to tackle the awful situation,” Fakhrul observed.
He said the people of different professions have taken to the streets against the lockdown announced by the government. “In fact, the slightest scene of what is meant by lockdown is not visible anywhere."
The BNP leader said the government has failed to properly enforce the lockdown for lack of pragmatic and well-thought-out plans.
He alleged that the government has no responsibility to people since it is not elected by them. “The government must be held accountable to people for its terrible misrule for more than 12 years.”
In the statement, Fakhrul condemned the filing of a case against 4,000 BNP leaders and activists at Saltha upazila in Faridpur district in connection with attack on Saltha Police Station and the upazila parishad on Tuesday night.
Also read:Media being regulated with various laws: Fakhrul
He said local people staged demonstrations at Saltha in protest against the oppression on an employee of a shop by the staff of a government official over enforcing the unplanned lockdown.
The BNP leader said law enforcers opened fire indiscriminately on the demonstrators, killing one of them.
He said the case was filed against BNP leaders and activists as part of the government’s suppressive measures.
Stating that 21 leaders and activists of their party have already been arrested there, Fakhrul demanded the government withdraw the case and release those arrested.
He also demanded the government restore peace at Saltha and stop harassing BNP leaders and activist in the name of drives by police.
Bustle back in Dhaka with reopening of city bus services
Traffic bustle returned to Dhaka with the resumption of city bus services on Wednesday, the third day of the seven-day countrywide lockdown.
In the wake of commuters’ sufferings, the government allowed public transports to resume their operations in Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur and Mymensigh city corporation areas from 6am to 6pm every day.
The relaxation has brough some sort of relief for commuters, vendors, traders and retailers who had suffered during the last two days for lack of public transports.
“This is good! It has enabled us to move easily in the city. But maintaining health protocols still remains a problem. People are reluctant,” said Shafiqul Islam, a private firm executive.
But, he said, with the resumption of public transport service, Dhaka got back its usual traffic chaos and sound pollution though the volume of vehicles was relatively low.
Although mass transports were relatively thin on the streets, traffic jams were seen in areas like Moghbazar, Banani and Gulistan areas.
‘Loose’ lockdown causes sufferings to commuters
Bangladesh passed off its second day of the weeklong ‘loose’ lockdown on Tuesday with the daily Covid-19 cases and its fatalities reaching a new high.
But commuters said they suffered a lot on the streets on their way to offices and other destinations, and their way back home for lack of public transport. They had to endure the same sufferings on the first day of the lockdown on Monday.
As government offices and private firms and different factories remained open, office-goers were seen struggling to manage transports in the city to go to their workplaces and return homes. As part of the shutdown, public transports went off the roads.
Many of them were forced to hire rickshaws and auto-rickshaws paying excessive fares while some others reached offices walking on foot.
As the government’s restrictions were not enforced strictly, many city dwellers continued to show apathy to the health safety rules, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
Alongside private cars, rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, microbus and CNG-run auto-rickshaws and many ride-sharing services were seen operating in the capital as usual while people moving freely ignoring the risks of Covid-19 transmission.
Also read: Lockdown in Bangladesh enters day 2 amid public apathy
Shopping malls are closed as per the government instruction but shops were seen open in many areas.
Visiting many city areas, the UNB correspondent found shops in lanes and by-lanes open despite the lockdown.
DSE, CSE to follow banking sector's lead in operating during lockdown
The capital markets will follow the banking sector's lead in operation during the pandemic of Covid-19.
This was informed by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) against the backdrop of different rumors since news broke of the lockdown to be imposed by the government from Monday next.
A notice posted on the official website of the BSEC said: "Capital market will continue operation at the interest of investors in any situation during the pandemic of Covid-19 if the banking activities continue." It said all transactions in the capital market will continue in the interest of investors.
Also read: Govt to enforce 7-day lockdown from Monday: Quader
It urged the investors to pay no heed to any sort of rumors.
According to BSEC sources, if the bank is open in lockdown, the capital market will also be open. This instruction has been given to two stock exchanges (Dhaka and Chittagong).
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 5,638 cases, 58 more deaths
They said, the commission has instructed DSE to keep the capital market open if banks are open. The capital market will operate utilising smaller shifts and work-from-home facilities.
Earlier, from March 26 to May 31 last year, transactions in the capital market were closed due to the outbreak of coronavirus.