Three more people died from coronavirus in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours till Wednesday, raising the death toll from Covid-19 in the country to 20.

Besides, 54 other people tested positive for the disease during the period, taking the number of such cases in the country to 218.

Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), came up with the disclosures in a daily bulletin.

A total of 981 samples were tested in the last 24 hours

Meanwhile, the global death toll from coronavirus has jumped to 82,074 as of Wednesday morning.

It has so far infected 1,431,689 people around the world, according to worldometer.

Of those infected, 1,047, 470 are currently being treated with 47,891 being in serious or critical condition.

So far, 302,145 people have recovered.

The government has appointed Benazir Ahmed, director general of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), as the new inspector general of police (IGP).

The Home Ministry issued a notification on Wednesday in this regard.

Benazir Ahmed will replace Dr M Javed Patwary.

Besides, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, additional inspector general of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), has been made new chief of Rab.

As per the notification, their appointment will come into effect on April 15.
 

Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked second worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Wednesday morning.
 
The city had a score of 164 at 08:01am, indicating that the air quality was ‘unhealthy’.
 
A numerical value between 151 and 200 indicates that everyone may begin to experience health effects. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
 
Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Poland’s Krakow occupied the first and third spots respectively with scores of 203 and 161 respectively.
 
Scores between 201 and 300 is classified as ‘very unhealthy’. If the score is between 301 and 500, then it is classified as ‘hazardous’.
 
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, tells people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
 
Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, has been grappling with air pollution for a long time. The air quality generally worsens during summer and shows signs of improvement in monsoon when the dust settles.
 

All 57 wards of Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) have been put under lockdown in an effort to protect city dwellers from the contagious coronavirus and prevent its spread.

GCC Mayor M Jahangir Alam made the announcement on Tuesday in the wake of a rise in both deaths from the coronavirus and infections in the country.

He said they had to go for the lockdown to contain the virus and check its spread.

During the lockdown, all types of mass gatherings will remain banned and no-one can come out of their residences without any emergency need.

No vehicle will also be allowed to enter or leave the city.

Check-posts have been set up at 10 important points on two highways of the city to enforce the lockdown properly.

No new dengue case was reported in the last 24 hours till 8am on Tuesday, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

According to daily update from the DGHS, three dengue patients are being treated at hospitals in the capital.

Since the beginning of this year, 274 dengue cases were reported.

Bangladesh experienced a massive dengue outbreak last year when 101,354 people were hospitalised across the country. Of them, 101,037 made full recovery.

According to official figures, the mosquito-borne disease killed 179 people in 2019.

On April 2, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam said his ministry has been taking steps as part of a joint effort to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes and fighting the dengue menace in the country.