Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said Bangladesh will go for coproduction of Covid-19 vaccines soon, emphasizing that there is no alternative to production of vaccines locally.  "It's a coproduction. They (partner countries) will send it in bulk and we’ll do other things here - bottling, labeling and finishing," he told reporters after receiving the first consignment of 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan. Dr Momen said the countries that went for coproduction of vaccines are doing well.  A cargo flight of Cathay Pacific Airways carried the vaccine doses that landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Also read: India working to resume vaccine export to Bangladesh, reiterates Doraiswami Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito, Health Services Division Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah and personal physician of the Prime Minister Professor Dr ABM Abdullah were present. The vaccine doses came under the COVAX facility. 

Preventing the spread of Covid-19 is not the job of the Health Ministry, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Monday. “The Health Ministry’s responsibility is to ensure proper treatment. There are other ministries working to fend off the virus ”, he added. Zahid said this while attending a virtual meeting with the government officers, public representatives, political persons of Manikganj and media on the ongoing Covid-19 situation. Also read: Opposition MPs call Health Minister “shameless” over health sector “failures” He said, for a year and half the country has been fighting this invisible entity and now “We have to be more careful than ever before.” “Earlier rural people thought they wouldn't get infected by the virus but now the infection rate is highest in the rural areas”, said the minister. He urged the union and ward monitoring committees to be more concerned to tackle the virus surge. “We are contracting the virus due to our carelessness,” he said. Zahid said 50,000 health workers, including doctors, nurses and technicians, have been appointed across the country as worsening Covid-19 situation has made it impossible to treat the general patients at the hospitals. Also read: Health minister hopes to get 11 crore vaccine doses by December “Preparation to appoint more health workers have been completed too”, he added. He said, already 90% of the hospital beds have been occupied, if we don’t become concerned now increasing hospital beds won’t suffice the crisis. Regarding the vaccination, Zahid said, “We will get 1 crore vaccine doses this month and another 1 crore in the next.” But maintaining health rules and wearing masks is mandatory as well as vaccination, he added. The minister announced the 250-bed Manikganj General Hospital as a Covid-19 dedicated hospital during the meeting.

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.

Noorjahan Akhter, mother of former Bangladesh National Cricket team captain and chief selector Faruque Ahmed, passed away early Saturday at a city hospital with Covid-19 symptoms. Noorjahan, 83, breathed her last at around 4:30am at United Hospital. But Faruque, who is in Dubai now, failed to return home due to the cancellation of flights from the UAE to Dhaka. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board expressed deep sorrow at the passing of the former top order batsman's mother and extended heartfelt condolences and sympathies to his family. Faruque played ODIs between 1988 and 1999 and served as chief selector from 2003 to 2007 – a period when the national team made good progress.