COVID infections
Kushtia reports 17 more Covid-related deaths
Kushtia General Hospital on Sunday morning reported 17 more Covid-related deaths in 24 hours amid an alarming surge in the number of new infections in the district.
Of the deceased, 13 were confirmed Covid patients while the remaining four were showing the symptoms of the virus, said Dr MA Momen, administrator of the Kushtia General Hospital.
Read:Covid claims 18 more lives in Kushtia
Besides, 176 people were tested positive for corona in the district in the past 24 hours. "Some 580 samples were tested during the period," he said.
The positivity rate currently stands at 29.88%.
Moreover, a total of 285 patients are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital with Covid symptoms.
Read: 22 deaths in 24 hours: Kushtia records its highest daily Covid toll
Dr Taposh Kumar Sarkar, resident medical officer of the hospital, said, “The number of Covid-19 patients is increasing day by day, forcing authorities to accommodate people on the floor of the corona ward. If the situation worsens further, it will be very difficult for us to handle it with this limited manpower.”
So far, 10,060 people have been infected with the virus in the district, while the death toll from Covid topped 310. On the other hand, 6,379 people have recovered from Covid infections to date.
Khaleda subjected to “state repression”: BNP
Alleging that their party Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been subjected to “state repression”, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said her life is now at risk since the government has snatched her right to receive advanced treatment abroad.
“Khaleda Zia has been imprisoned in completely false and fabricated cases, and she has been subjected to state repression. Her life is now at risk for lack of proper treatment in prison, and her right to receive such treatment has also been snatched,” he said.
Read: BNP seeks govt’s prompt steps to send Khaleda abroad
In a message on the occasion of International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture, the BNP leader also said although Khaleda needs advanced treatment abroad, the government has put a restriction to her travel abroad. “It’s nothing, but a manifestation of government’s vengeance and extreme torture.”
He urged the democracy-loving people in the country to get united and put up a resistance against the government’s all repressive acts.
On Tuesday, Fakhrul at a press conference said the BNP chief has a heart problem and her kidney and liver complications are very critical and she needs treatment at an advanced centre abroad.
On June 19, Khaleda Zia got back home from the capital’s Evercare Hospital after 53 days of treatment for Covid infections and other physical complications.
The 76-year-old BNP chief, who tested positive for Covid-19 on April 11, was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27.
She tested negative for Covid-19 on May 8, 27 days after she had been infected with the deadly virus.
Read: Khaleda stable, but not fully well: Doctor
Her family submitted an application to the government on May 6 seeking permission to send her abroad for advanced treatment, but it was turned down.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.
Fakhrul expressed deep sympathy to the oppressed individuals, groups and communities around the world, including in Bangladesh, on International Day in support of the victims of torture discarded by the United Nations.
He said people have been oppressed by cruel dictators and one-party rule for ages all over the world, and it is still going on. “Intolerant rulers are carrying out ruthless repressive acts against political dissents.”
The BNP leader alleged that the current government in Bangladesh has usurped power and it has been carrying out fascist oppression on people by resorting to enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings as its main weapons.
Read: Khaleda in vulnerable condition: Fakhrul
He also accused the government of trying to suppress the media by threatening and intimidating journalists. “Freedom of the media is now completely threatened.”
Fakhrul said Bangladesh has been going through a very tough time as political party leaders, human rights activists and political analysts who are vocal in favour of democracy are being victims of the government’s repressive acts or getting killed and crippled.
Bangladesh logs 54 Covid deaths, 3,050 new infections, both highest in nearly a month
Eds: Updates with details
Dhaka, June 14, (UNB) – Amid the desperate bid to procure vaccines for all, Bangladesh reported 54 Coronavirus-related deaths and 3,050 new cases in 24 hours until Sunday morning, both the highest in around a month.
The country last recorded 56 deaths on May 9 and 3031 cases on April 27.
With the new numbers, the country's total caseload stood at 8,29,972 while death toll at 13,172, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services.
Besides, the case positivity rate today jumped again to 14.80% from Saturday’s 12.99% while the fatality rate remained static at 1.59%, showed the DGHS handout.
READ: India reports 80,834 new COVID-19 cases
New cases were detected after testing 20,602 samples during the period while the country has so far completed testing 61,95,714 samples.
However, 7,68,830 people have recovered from the infection so far, putting the recovery rate at 92.63% today.
Fourteen of the deaths recorded today were from Chattogram division while 13 deaths each from Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions.
READ: Covid-19: 12 patients die at RMCH in a single day
Also, seven died in Khulna, five in Rangpur, one each in Barishal and Mymensingh divisions.
Vaccination Drive
Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 vaccination due to jab shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
Some 42,532,526 people got the second dose of this vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one.
Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162.
However, Bangladesh will start administering Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccine doses from June 19, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque today.
The health minister earlier said Pfizer vaccine shots will be given at four centres in Dhaka to those who have already registered.
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Vaccine procurement update
Bangladesh will soon receive 10 lakh and 800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine soon under COVAX facility, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US conveyed the message of this development to the Foreign Minister.
Bangladesh, earlier sought 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the US for addressing Bangladesh's immediate needs but the US is yet to reply on that particular request.
Meanwhile, the second consignment of the Sinopharm vaccine, amounting to some 600,000 doses, arrived here on Sunday afternoon as a gift from the Chinese government.
READ: As COVID-19 cases wane, vaccine-lagging in USA still see risk
Two special flights of Bangladesh Air Force were sent to transport 6 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses and other medical supplies from China.
Just nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses of gifted vaccine in Bangladesh, China announced the provision of the second batch of gift doses to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has also received 100,620 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on June 1.
Also, seven million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine have already reached Bangladesh and India.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily death toll, new cases rise
Bangladesh witnessed a rise in Covid-19 related deaths and new cases in the last 24 hours until Tuesday morning.
Covid-19: Bangladesh's daily infection rate rises again, fatalities fall
Bangladesh recorded 350 more Covid-19 infections until early Saturday, meaning 543,024 people have now tested positive for the virus in the country since the start of the pandemic.
COVID infections drop 16% worldwide in one week: WHO
In its latest update on the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that although the number of gobal infections has fallen by 16 per cent in a week – 500,000 fewer cases – regions, including Europe, are still in the grip of the virus whose variants are spreading, reports UN NEWS.