United News of Bangladesh

The Covid-19 infection rate in this south-western coastal district jumped to 50 per cent as per samples tested in the past 24 hours till Sunday, officials said. Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr. Mohammad Habibur Rahman, said that 20 people tested positive for the virus from samples taken from 40 people during this period. With this some 7,125 people have tested positive for Covid-19 while 144 people died of Covid till Sunday in the district. A total of 6,935 people recovered from the virus, he said. Also read: Bangladesh reports 17 more deaths as Covid getting deadlier He said 63.19% people of the district have received the first dose of the Covid jabs, while 41.88% got second dose and 1.18% received booster or the third dose. Besides, one lakh 53 thousand 361 students aged between 12 and 17 have been given the first shot and 46 thousand 437 the second shot, according to health officials. Despite a surge in the virus people seemed indifferent to maintaining Covid safety masures like wearing masks in public places. Also read: Covid in Bangladesh: 11,434 more cases, 12 deaths and positivity rate rises to 28.49% In the city’s crowded areas of Sadhonar intersection, Main Road, Kitchen Market, fish market and other important places, people were seen moving without wearing masks.

Bangladesh reported 12 more Covid-linked deaths with 9,500 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning following a continuous rise in its infection rate. The positivity rate in the country further increased to 25.11 per cent from Tuesday’s 23.98 per cent after testing 37,573 samples, according to the Directorate general of health Services (DGHS). Bangladesh last logged 10,126 cases and 215 deaths on August 12, last year with a positivity rate of 22.46% per cent in 24 hours. Read: Covid in Bangladesh: 10 more districts designated ‘red zones’ The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,176 while the caseload mounted to 1,642, 294 on Wednesday. Among the new deceased, 10 were men and two women. Eight deaths were reported in Dhaka division while two in Chattogram and one each in Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions.

Three more Covid patients died at Bangabandhu  Sheikh Mujib Medical College (BSMMC) Hospital in district in  24 hrs until Monday morning, health officials said. Among the deceased, two died of Covid and remaining one died after showing symptoms. With the latest figures, the number of fatalities in the district rose to 516. Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 51 more deaths, 1871 cases in past 24 hours Meanwhile, 61 more people were found positive for Covid-19 after testing 260 samples in the last 24 hrs. The positivity rate now stands at 23.84% which was below 20% for a week, according to the district civil surgeon’s office. BSMMC  Director  Md Saifur Rahman said 10 more Covid patients got admitted to the hospital during the period. Currently, 59 patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital and among them 11 are in the ICU. Read: No room to defy Covid norms at schools, colleges: Dipu Moni Health officials said this situation may worsen further  if the health safety measures are not followed properly. Bangladesh logged 51 more Covid-19 deaths and 1,871 cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The daily case positivity rate increased a bit to 7.46% from 7.03 % on Saturday .

Bangladesh has reported a record-high number of daily Covid-19 infections after confirming its first cases on March 8 last year and 7,626 on April 7. On Monday, 8,364 people were diagnosed with the disease from 35,059 sample tests in the preceding 24 hours, bringing the country's caseload since the beginning of the pandemic to 896,770. New infections have been averaging 5,000 for the past few days – 75% of the peak. The highest daily average was reported on April 9. The country, battling to get a second coronavirus wave under control, also reported more than 100 deaths for a second straight day. The new number, 104 deaths, took the country's toll to 14,276. Bangladesh reported 119 deaths on Sunday, its highest-ever daily fatality from the pandemic. Also, the country's positivity rate reached its peak at 23.86%, which was recorded at 23.57% on April 8. Meanwhile, the fatality rate almost remained unchanged at 1.59% from Sunday's 1.60% and the recovery rate dropped to 90.06%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Khulna division reported the highest 35 deaths, Dhaka 27, Chattogram 19, Rangpur nine, Rajshahi seven, Mymensingh five and Barishal two deaths. New restrictions Following the surge in new cases, the government has decided to enforce a seven-day toughest nationwide lockdown from July 1 engaging the Armed Forces, BGB and Battalion Police in a bid to check the coronavirus transmission in the country. Also read:Covid-19: Bangladesh reports record 119 daily deaths "There'll be no pass for movement this time….no one can go outside as they'll have to stay indoors," Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said Monday. "We're moving on with a very tough stance to execute the lockdown from 6am on July 1 to 12 am on July 7." Only those who are engaged in emergency services are allowed to move during the restrictions, he added. In mid-April, restrictions on activities and movement were imposed across the country as cases and fatalities rose to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. The positivity rate fell in May but started creeping up again this month, sparking harsher restrictions. Indo-Bangla border closed for another 14 days Health officials across the world have been alarmed by the rapid spread of the highly contagious coronavirus Delta variant. The variant, first identified in neighbouring India, has reached at least 85 countries, according to the World Health Organization. Amid the worsening Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh, the border closure with India has been extended for another 14 days till July 14. "All other (previous) conditions remain the same," Mashfee Binte Shams, secretary (East) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said. Also read: Alarming Covid surge in Khulna division; death toll crosses 1,000 Earlier, the government extended the border closure with India several times, and it was extended till June 30 before today's latest extension. As per the previous decision, general movements of humans between Bangladesh and India will temporarily stay suspended through land ports.

Notwithstanding the lockdown restrictions, the frontier district of Rajshahi is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 deaths with each passing day. In fact, Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) on Wednesday recorded 16 new Covid-related deaths in 24 hours. Of them, eight had tested positive for Covid-19, while the remaining showed symptoms of the virus, said hospital director Brigadier General Shamim Yeazdani. Read:13 more Covid patients die at Rajshahi hospital Of the deceased, eight were from Rajsahi district, three from Chapainawabganj district, two each from Natore and Naogaon districts and one belonged to Jhenaidah district. Four of the deceased were aged over 61 years, three in the age group of 51-60 years and the remaining were aged between 31 and 50 years. A total of 245 people have died of Covid-19 at the corona unit of RMCH in the last 23 days, officials said. Shamim said that 60 people were admitted to the corona unit of the hospital in 24 hours till Wednesday morning. Read:Lockdown in Rajshahi extended by a week Of them, 44 people hailed from Rajshahi, six from Chapainawabganj, two from Natore, five from Naogaon, two from Pabna and one from Jhenaidah. Some 42 people have left the hospital after recovery during this period. Besides, 410 people are currently undergoing treatment against 357 beds at the corona unit of the hospital, as the authorities opened a 48-bed facility equipped with centralised oxygen supply on Tuesday. Of the total patients, 20 people are undergoing treatment in the ICU. Read: 15 more die of Covid-19 at RMCH in a single day Meanwhile, the infection rate has further decreased in Rajshahi. On Tuesday, 457 samples were tested at two laboratories of the district, of which 151 came out positive. Authorities have extended the ongoing lockdown in Rajshahi by one more week till June 24. The decision to extend the lockdown to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission in the district was taken at a meeting held at Rajshahi Circuit House on June 17.

Twelve more people have died of Covid-19 at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) in the past 24 hours, officials said Friday. Read:Lockdown in Rajshahi extended by a week Among them, six were confirmed Covid cases, while the remaining patients showed symptoms of the virus, hospital director Brigadier General Shamim Yeazdani said. Of the deceased, five were from Rajshahi district, two from Chapainawabganj, two from Natore and three belonged to Naogaon district. Read:13 more Covid patients die at Rajshahi hospital A total of 183 people have died of Covid-19 at RMCH in the last 18 days. Shamim also said that some 41 people have been admitted to the corona unit of the hospital in the past 24 hours. "The figure was somewhat less than that of Thursday's, but the infection rate in Rajshahi rose to 43.87 percent," he said. Read: Lockdown/Lock-in: Rajshahi taken off rail network to fight surge in infections On Thursday, 561 samples were tested at RMCH of which 220 emerged positive.

As the Covid-19 still remains grim in Bangladesh, it recorded 34 more Coronavirus-related deaths and 1,444 new cases in 24 hours until Sunday morning.  The latest figures pushed up the total fatalities to 12,583. The new infections were detected after carrying out 14,277 sample tests. The mortality rate rose to 1.58% from 1.57 percent while the positivity rate jumped to 10.11% from Saturday’s 7.91%, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout.   Also read: Bangladesh extends lockdown until June 6 With the new cases, the total caseload reached 7,98,830 while the total number of recoveries is 7,38,805, including 1,397 in the last 24 hours, said the handout. Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month. The government has extended the ongoing lockdown by another week until June 6 to stem the spread of Coronavirus. On Sunday, the Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard.

Bangladesh reported 56 more Coronavirus-related deaths and 1,386 new cases in a 24-hour period until Sunday morning.The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the latest fatalities took the country’s death toll to 11,934 while the mortality rate remained static at 1.54 percent.Besides, the DGHS said, the new cases were detected after testing 16,915 samples, pushing up the total case count to 773,513.  Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,630,894 tests.After a massive upsurge, the number of daily cases fell below 2,000 since May 1. There has been a steady decline in the number of tests since April 28. The number of testes rose again over 20,000 on May 4, 5 and 6, according to corona.gov.bd.The daily infection rate fell to 8.19%, which was 8.74% a day before, according to the DGHS.The number of Covid deaths came down to as low as 50 after over a month on Wednesday.Bangladesh saw 50 deaths on April 1 and it had kept rising since then.The daily death toll soared to over 100 on April 16-19 and on April 25 but has been falling gradually since then.According to the DGHS, 3,329 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, putting the recovery rate at 91.81%. The country reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.Dhaka remains worst-hit region Dhaka has remained the worst-hit region, recording 6,922 fatalities or 58% of the total deaths until now.Twenty-two of the 56 virus-related deaths recorded today are from Dhaka and 21 from Chattogram.Indian Coronavirus strain detectedA confirmed case of Indian Coronavirus strain was detected in Bangladesh on Saturday, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed.The Indian strain was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka and it has been published in Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), said IEDCR's chief scientific officer ASM Alamgir.Two more confirmed cases of Indian Coronavirus strain were detected at the Genome Centre of Jashore University of Science and Technology on the same day.India reported over 4,00,000 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the caseload to over 2.2 crore. With 4,133 new deaths, the toll now stands at over 2,42,000. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 45 more deaths with 1285 new casesInto the fourth week of extended lockdownThe government has issued a notification extending the ongoing lockdown until May 16 with six fresh directives alongside the existing ones to contain the spread of Covid-19.The country is passing through a ‘strict’ lockdown since April 14 but people are still indifferent towards health guidelines and safety rules.According to the notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the officials of all government, semi-government autonomous and private organisations, banks and financial institutions have been asked to remain at their respective workstations during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.Shops and shopping malls will remain open from 10am to 8pm maintaining health guidelines. If any kind of deviation and violation are seen, the shopping malls and shops will be closed instantly, says the notification.Inter-district transport services will remain closed while intra-district transport services were allowed to operate ensuring health guidelines from Thursday. However, launch and train services will remain off.Amid a mad rush of home-bound people ahead of Eid, ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia and Shimulia-Banglabazar routes have been suspended on Saturday to curb the spread of Covid-19.However, vessels carrying patients and goods will be allowed to cross the rivers, said BIWTC public relations officer Nazrul Islam. Vaccination driveBangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.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 has remained suspended in Bangladesh since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.However, DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh would get 2.1 million doses of vaccines by early May.Dwindling vaccine stockThe DGHS on Wednesday said the stock of the Covid-19 vaccine is dwindling in Bangladesh as there are only 1.4 million jabs left with no sign in sight to get a fresh consignment of it from India.DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin said, "We had around 10.2 million doses. Around 8.8 million jabs have already been administered as the first and second doses. Now we've some 1.4 million doses in stock."He said there will be a vaccine crisis if a fresh consignment does not arrive in the country before the existing stock is exhausted.Vaccine expected from USForeign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said the government has intensified its efforts to have vaccine jabs from the USA as it will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with other countries.Vaccine productionWith India slapping a ban on the export of AstraZeneca vaccines made by its Serum Institute, Bangladesh is trying to get technology from Russia and China to produce their vaccines locally.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 Russia's Sputnik V vaccine."We'll get 5,00,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine as a gift within 7-10 days. Then the government will start buying those on a G2G basis," Mahbubur Rahman, director general of the Directorate General of Drug Administration told reporters.END/UNB/FA/ZK

The Covid-19 situation is worsening around the world with each passing the day, despite mass vaccinations. In fact, the total global corona caseload is fast approaching 157 million.   Acording to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total Covid caseload reached 156,480,210 while the death toll from the virus mounted to 3,265,264, respectively, on Saturday morning.   The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has logged 32,649,677 cases with 580,870 fatalities to date, as per the university data.   India, which is now the world's second worst-hit country in terms of cases, has so far recorded 21,491,598 infections and 234,083 fatalities, according to the country's Health Ministry. Also read: Global Covid cases near 156 million India has been hit by a catastrophic surge in Covid infections. New cases and deaths skyrocketed nearly 30-fold during March and April. The health system has been overwhelmed, leaving patients desperate for oxygen and other supplies, reports AP.   Hospitals across the country have been flooded with Covid-19 patients.   Brazil, counted one of the deadliest Covid-19 hotspots in the world, reported as many as 2,165 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours on Friday, raising the national fatality count to 419,114, the Ministry of Health said.   The Ministry said that 78,886 more cases were detected during the 24-hour period, raising the nationwide tally to 15,082,449.   Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India. Also read: Global Covid cases top 154.7 million Situation in Bangladesh   Bangladesh on Friday reported 37 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours, including that of 14 women, the lowest since March 28.   The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the new fatalities pushed up the country’s death toll to 11,833 and the mortality rate to 1.54 %.   Besides, the DGHS said, 1,682 new cases were detected during the period following the test of 17,013 samples, taking the total case count to 770,842.   Bangladesh has so far carried out 559,9276 nationwide tests since reporting its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.   Vaccination drive   Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it acquired from India's Serum Institute.   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.   India has tried to ward off its Covid crisis by ramping up the production of vaccines and banning their export, cutting off supplies to neighbours such as Bangladesh and Nepal as they struggle with infection surges.   However, DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam recently assured that Bangladesh would get 2.1 million doses of vaccines by early May.   Lockdown extended again   The government has issued a notification extending the ongoing lockdown till May 16 with six fresh directives alongside the existing ones to contain the spread of Covid-19.   According to the notification issued by the Cabinet Division, officials of all government, semi-government, autonomous and private organisations, as well as banks and financial institutions have been asked to remain at their respective workstations during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.   Shops and shopping malls will remain open from 10am to 8pm maintaining strict health guidelines. If any violations are seen, the shopping malls and shops will be closed instantly, says the notification.   Inter-district transport services will remain suspended though intra-district transport services resumed from Thursday. However, launch and train services will remain suspended. Also read: WHO, Germany to launch new global hub for pandemic, epidemic intelligence   India in the grip of Covid   Bangladesh's largest neighbour India is grappling with the worst outbreak of Covid and set yet another daily global record of 414,188 confirmed cases and 3,915 deaths on Friday, bringing the national tally to 21.4 million infections and over 234,000 deaths. However, experts say the actual figures could be much higher.   The explosion of new Covid-19 cases is overwhelming India, leaving millions of people infected and putting stress on the country's already overtaxed healthcare system. The country has stepped up its vaccination drive for all its adults even though some states claim to be facing shortage of jabs.   The Indian government is facing mounting pressure to impose a strict nationwide lockdown, despite the economic pain it will exact, as an alarming surge in Covid cases that has pummeled the country's health system shows no signs of abating.   Months ago, India had appeared to be winning its battle against the pandemic. After a strict initial lockdown, the country did not see a surge in new cases and deaths compared to other countries.   But when the early restrictions were lifted, many people stopped taking precautions with large gatherings, political rallies and religious festivals being held at many places, drawing millions of people.   Bangladesh on alert   India's neighbours such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan are watching out for a potentially more infectious Covid-19 variant crossing the border from the country as they are also reporting a recent surge in new cases.   The new situation has prompted authorities in these countries to seal borders and restrict travel. However, given the porous nature of the borders, people cross frequently.   The surge in India has created big concerns for Bangladesh, where officials fear that new variants circulating in India could bring devastation.   On April 26, the country shut down borders with India for any kind of movement except that of cargo for the next 14 days as sparks from India's pandemic wildfire seem to have gone out of control.

While at the Park House shopping mall in northern Moscow, Vladimir Makarov saw it was offering the coronavirus vaccine to customers, so he asked how long it would take. “It turned out it’s simple here — 10 minutes,” he said of his experience last month. But Makarov, like many Muscovites, still decided to put off getting the Sputnik V shot. Read Also: First batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine delivered to India Russia boasted last year of being first in the world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine, but it now finds itself lagging in getting its population immunized. That has cast doubt on whether authorities will reach their ambitious goal of vaccinating more than 30 million of country’s 146 million people by mid-June and nearly 69 million by August. The vaccine reluctance comes as shots are readily available in the capital to anyone 18 or older at more than 200 state and private clinics, shopping malls, food courts, hospitals — even a theater. As of mid-April, over 1 million of Moscow’s 12.7 million residents, or about 8%, have received at least one shot, even though the campaign began in December. That percentage is similar for Russia as a whole. Through April 27, only 12.1 million people have gotten at least one shot and only 7.7 million, or 5%, have been fully vaccinated. That puts Russia far behind the U.S., where 43% have gotten at least one shot, and the European Union with nearly 27%. Data analyst Alexander Dragan, who tracks vaccinations across Russia, said last week the country was giving shots to 200,000-205,000 people a day. In order to hit the mid-June target, it needs to be nearly double that. “We need to start vaccinating 370,000 people a day, like, beginning tomorrow,” Dragan told The Associated Press. To boost demand, Moscow officials began offering coupons worth 1,000 rubles ($13) to those over 60 who get vaccinated — not a small sum for those receiving monthly pensions of about 20,000 rubles ($260). Still, it hasn’t generated much enthusiasm. Some elderly Muscovites told AP it was difficult to register online for the coupons or find grocery stores that accepted them. Other regions also are offering incentives. Authorities in Chukotka, across the Bering Strait from Alaska, promised seniors 2,000 rubles for getting vaccinated, while the neighboring Magadan region offered 1,000 rubles. A theater in St. Petersburg offered discounted tickets for those presenting a vaccination certificate. Read Also: Bangladesh approves local production of Russian, Chinese Covid vaccines Russia’s lagging vaccination rates hinge on several factors, including supply. Russian drug makers have been slow to ramp up mass production, and there were shortages in March in many regions. So far, only 28 million two-dose sets of all three vaccines available in Russia have been produced, with Sputnik V accounting for most of them, and only 17.4 million have been released into circulation after undergoing quality control. Waiting lists for the shot remain long in places. In the Sverdlovsk region, the fifth most-populous in Russia, 178,000 people were on a wait list by mid-April, regional Deputy Health Minister Yekaterina Yutyaeva told AP. On April 28, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there are enough vaccines available in Russia, adding that demand was the defining factor in the country’s vaccination rate. Another factor in Russians’ reluctance over Sputnik V was the fact that it was rolled out even as large-scale testing to ensure its safety and efficacy was still ongoing. But a study published in February in the British medical journal The Lancet said the vaccine appeared safe and highly effective against COVID-19, according to a trial involving about 20,000 people in Russia. A poll in February by Russia’s top independent pollster, the Levada Center, showed that only 30% of respondents were willing to get Sputnik V, one of three domestically produced vaccines available. The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. Dragan, the data analyst, says one possible explanation for the reluctance is the narrative from authorities that they have tamed the outbreak, even if that assessment might be premature. With most virus restrictions lifted and government officials praising the Kremlin’s pandemic response, few have motivation to get the shot, he said, citing an attitude of, “If the outbreak is over, why would I get vaccinated?” Vasily Vlassov, a public health expert at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, echoed Dragan’s sentiment and also pointed to inconsistent signals from officials and media. Read Also: Bangladesh approves emergency use of Russian Sputnik V vaccine “Russians in 2020 were bombarded with contradictory messages — first about (the coronavirus) not being dangerous and being just a cold, then that it was a deadly infection,” he told AP. “Then they were banned from leaving their homes.” Another narrative, he said, was that foreign vaccines were dangerous but Russian-produced ones were not. State TV reported adverse reactions linked to Western vaccines while celebrating Sputnik V’s international success. A proper media campaign promoting vaccinations didn’t begin on state TV until late March, observers and news reports note. Videos on the Channel 1 national network featured celebrities and other public figures talking about their experience but didn’t show them getting injected. President Vladimir Putin said he received the shot about the same time, but not on camera. “Fruitful ground for conspiracy theorists,” said Dragan, who also works in marketing. Rumors about the alleged dangers of vaccines actually surged on social media in December, when Russia began administering the shots, and have continued steadily since then, said social anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova. The rumors combined with other factors — the pseudoscience on Russian TV, vaccine distribution problems and an uneven rollout of the promotional campaign — to hamper the immunization drive, Arkhipova told AP. Vlassov, meanwhile, noted the outbreak in Russia is far from over, and there even are signs it is growing. “Roughly the same number of people get infected every day in Russia now as last May, at the peak of the outbreak,” he said, adding that twice as many people are dying every day than a year ago. Government statistics say infections have stayed at about 8,000-9,000 per day nationwide, with 300-400 deaths recorded daily. But new cases have been steadily increasing in Moscow in the past month, exceeding 3,000 last week for the first time since January. Read Also: Russia orders troop pullback but keeps weapons near Ukraine Infection rates are growing in seven regions, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on April 23, without identifying them. She blamed “insufficient vaccination rates” in some places. And yet, the abundance of vaccines in Moscow has attracted foreigners who can’t get the shot at home. A group of Germans got their first jab at their hotel last month. Uwe Keim, 46-year-old software developer from Stuttgart, told AP he believes “there are more vaccines available here in Russia than is demanded by the people here.”