Covid-19 Second Wave
Tourism suspended in Sundarbans till Apr 15
The Forest Department has banned tourists from entering the Sundarbans till April 15 to tackle the second wave of Covid-19.
However, beekeepers and fishermen will be exempt from the ban.
Forest Conservator of Khulna Zone Moinuddin Khan confirmed this news to UNB.
He said that there are seven tourist spots in eastern and western zones of Sundarban. All of these will be closed effective immediately.
Also read: Covid 19: Movement of tourist ships on Teknaf-St Martin's route suspended
According to him, around 2 lakh domestic and foreign tourists visit the Sundarbans every year.
Although, tourists were suspended for the majority of 2020, records show around 1 lac 72 thousand tourists came to Sundarbans last year despite it.
Moinuddin stated that the reason behind not losing tourists despite suspension was that the main season to visit the Sundarbans is from Nov-Jan, it was when the Covid situation was comparatively back to normal.
Also read: Damage to int'l tourism in 2020 estimated at $1.3 trillion amid pandemic
Earlier on March 19 last year, the Sundarbans was declared closed to tourists.
Later, after almost seven months of suspension, instructions were given to conduct tourism in compliance with the hygiene rules in October.
Fighting the Second Wave: Govt seeks stricter implementation of PMO directives
In the wake of the alarming spike in Coronavirus cases, the government has decided it must take a tougher stance towards implementing the 18-point directive issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) earlier in the week, in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The move came after the country recorded its highest-ever daily coronavirus cases (6,469) and registered more than 5,000 cases for the fourth straight day on Thursday (Apr 1). Following the health protocols, all ministries and organisations have been instructed to use only 50 percent of their manpower in office for two straight weeks by State Minister of Public Administration Farhad Hossain.
Also read:Covid-19 Second Wave: Maleque seeks further steps against ...Strict instructions have been issued to all the ministries and associated organisations asking them to follow the directives, he said. “We already started following the instruction from Wednesday and the rest of the ministries started implementing the directive from Thursday. All ministries and departments will form a duty roster for all their staff,” he said. One half of the staff will attend office three days and two days from home in the first week and the second half will work the same way in the second week, Hossain said, adding that pregnant and officials above 55 years old will work online from home. Besides, all of the private and non-government organisations and offices were also directed to employ 50 percent workers in office and rest through online from home, the State Minister said. Pregnant employees and officials above 55 years old will work online from home, he said. “We will ensure that no one go outside after 10 pm unnecessarily and also launch a monitoring programme on the grass root level. Law enforcers will work in this regard,” Farhad Hossain said. The government will decide the next course of action after maintaining all the directives for two weeks and review the decision after April 12, he said. The Home Ministry said as the 18-point directive landed on Monday, police already prepared a work plan to implement the instructions across the country including the capital. Police check-posts have been installed at different places including Dhaka and a massive campaign is operated by cops and local administration to raise awareness among people, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told UNB. Moreover Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the administration will do everything to constant monitor the implementation of the health directives.
Also read:Don't be panicked about possible second wave of Covid-19 ... “The way number of patients is rising… if the scenario continues, no hospitals will have seats to admit patients. All must act immediately to curb the massive transmission. The pandemic might take a devastating form if we fail to follow the 18-directives issued by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” the minister said. Secretary of Health Services Division Abdul Mannan said they have already started following the health directive strictly.
Covid-19 Second Wave: Maleque seeks further steps against transmission
Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said that Dhaka North City Corporation kitchen market in Mohakhali will be turned into a makeshift hospital dedicated for novel coronavirus patients.
“It will have around 50 ICU beds and above 1000 Covid patients can be tretated at the hospital,” said the minister.
Moreover, three specialized public hospitals -National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology, will also open units dedicated for coronavirus patients with 100 beds each.
Also read: Bangladesh reports record number of 5,358 new daily Covid cases; 52 deaths
He came up with this information while talking to the reporters at a a meeting with the owners of private hospitals this evening.
Zahid Maleque reaffirmed that the ministry is doing everything in its power to curb the ‘dramatic’ rise in Covid-19 cases.
“Additional 2500 bed will be increased in the hospitals of the capital to treat Covid-19 patients within a very short time. Moreover, central oxygen line has been provided to 90 hospitals,” he said.
Also read: Don’t be panicked about possible second wave of Covid-19: Minister
The minister also urged people to consider Covid hospitals adjacent to Dhaka city to reduce pressure on the capitals’ hospitals.
“There are similar medical facilities in Gazipur, Manikganj and some other districts around Dhaka. Patients can be admitted to those hospitals,” he said.
The minister said that if the authorities fail to do anything about the source of the massive spread of Covid-19 cases, then it would be impossible to bring the situation under control even if they turn the entire Dhaka city into hospitals.
Also read: Vaccine drive to continue with AstraZeneca shot: Health Secretary
“People are visiting tourist destinations, attending weddings and social events without maintaining any health guidelnes. If this continues, then it will not be possible to curb the spread of Covid-19.”
The minister said the steps taken by the health authorities were effective in restricting Covid-19 in Bangladesh which resulted in lower cases in February. But people became lethargic afterwards, which was the main reason for increase in coronavirus cases.
The minister expressed his concern by saying if the situation goes beond the authorities control, then it would be very difficult to bring life back to normal.