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Coronavirus in Bangladesh

The number of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh surpassed 10,000 on Monday, the country’s health ministry said, Reuters reports, with infections increasing in pace over the past several days.

Bangladesh reported 688 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking its tally since it reported its first case two months ago to 10,143. The death toll rose to 182.
 
Bangladesh quarantines Rohingya refugees on island

The Bangladeshi government has quarantined 29 Rohingya refugees on a cyclone-prone remote island in the Bay of Bengal after they were stranded at sea for weeks.

The refugees, mostly women and children, were detained after docking in Bangladesh on Saturday and then taken to the island of Bhashan Char. This was done to protect the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar from coronavirus, Naval Lieutenant Abdur Rashid told CNN.

These refugees were among hundreds of Rohingya Muslims trapped at sea for weeks after trying to reportedly flee to Malaysia from Myanmar, where they are not recognised as citizens.

Cox's Bazar, home to nearly one million Rohingya Muslims, has been under lockdown since April with no confirmed cases yet. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has recorded more than 10,000 infections
 
In Bangladesh police have detained 11 people accused of spreading rumours about the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis. Critics say draconian digital security laws are being used to stifle free speech
 
Bangladesh opens mosques as lockdown eases

Mass prayers at mosques are now allowed in Bangladesh, which has more than 12,000 Covid-19 cases and nearly 200 deaths.

But a correspondent at The Dhaka Tribune newspaper found that many mosques in the capital, Dhaka, did not follow the required guidelines as they opened their doors for the first time on Thursday after a month.

Most failed to arrange a hand sanitising station for visitors to use before entering and many people were not wearing masks, the newspaper reported.

“There are some shortcomings in the arrangements according to the guidelines, as it is the first day," Fazlul Haque, president of one of the mosques in the city, said while adding that they were "trying their hardest" to make sure the rules were enforced.

In April, a Bangladeshi cleric tested positive for the virus after he led Ramadan prayers for a group of nearly two dozen, local media reported at the time. The incident prompted authorities to urge people to stay at home and restrict the congregation of people in mosques.

In India, a mosque in capital, Delhi, dominated news coverage last month after more than 1,000 cases were linked to a religious event held by a missionary group. The event spurred outrage as it sparked massive Covid-19 clusters in the country.
 
The Bangladesh navy has rescued about 280 Muslim-majority Rohingya from the Bay of Bengal, towing their stranded boat to an island where they will be quarantined as a precaution against the coronavirus, coastguard and naval officials said on Friday.

Rights groups and aid agencies have raised their voice against the transfer of Rohingya to the flood-prone Bhasan Char island in the Bay of Bengal.

The rickety wooden boat was spotted early on Thursday in Bangladeshi waters and taken to the low-lying island off the southern coast, where the government has built housing and cyclone shelters.

'Starving'
"They were starving and we have given them food and water," one naval officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The plan is to keep them in home quarantine for 14 days. Later, the government will decide."

The navy and coastguard are on alert for other boats in Bangladeshi waters, unable to find their course as the seas turn rougher due to a change in season.

Telephone calls to government officials for comment by Reuters News Agency were unanswered.

Last weekend, 29 Rohingya found on another vessel adrift at sea were also taken to the island, which now has electric lighting and cellphone towers.

Another boat that landed on the coast of Bangladesh in mid-April was packed with hundreds of starving and emaciated Rohingya. Survivors said several dozen died on board during weeks at sea.

Late last month a top United Nations official urged Bangladesh to let two stranded boats with hundreds of Rohingya refugees on board land amid mounting fears over their fate.

But Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had told Al Jazeera the Rohingya refugees are "not Bangladesh's responsibility".

"Why you are asking Bangladesh to take those Rohingyas? They are in the deep sea, not even in Bangladesh's territorial water," Momen said, adding that there are at least eight coastal countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal.

Coronavirus scare
Back in February, Bangladesh appeared to be backing off plans to settle Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char, having come under fierce criticism from the UN and aid agencies.

But the subsequent coronavirus scare appears to have persuaded Bangladesh authorities to at least use the facilities on the island for quarantining rescued Rohingya.

More than one million Rohingya live in sprawling refugee camps in southern Bangladesh, most having arrived from Myanmar in late 2017 after fleeing a military crackdown that the UN said was conducted with genocidal intent.

The Myanmar army denies genocide and says it was carrying out a legitimate campaign against armed rebels who attacked police posts.

In January, the Hague-based International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to take emergency measures to prevent genocide of the Rohingya, which faces widespread discrimination and have been stripped of their nationality.

Any outbreak of coronavirus in the camps, where people live in cramped, squalid conditions, would be a nightmare for aid agencies and the Bangladesh authorities.

For years, Rohingya, either wanting to escape persecution in Myanmar or the poverty of camps in Bangladesh, have made the perilous sea journey south in the hope of reaching Thailand or Malaysia.

In 2015, hundreds of Rohingya died after a crackdown in Thailand led smugglers to abandon their human cargo at sea.

The UN has urged authorities to let the boats land, but Southeast Asian governments have tightened their borders to keep out the new coronavirus. And even in mostly-Muslim Malaysia, sympathy for Rohingya refugees appears to have eroded.

Among the targets of anti-Rohingya vitriol was Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, a Rohingya activist who had to deactivate his Facebook account after it was flooded with angry comments and death threats sparked by allegations he had demanded Malaysian citizenship for Rohingya.

Malaysia last month turned away a boat carrying 200 suspected Rohingya and has also arrested some people believed to be Rohingya for suspected trafficking of undocumented migrants. It has not said whether it would allow more Rohingya to enter the country.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...eds-rohingya-rescued-sea-200508063056857.html
 
Officials in Bangladesh have announced the first two confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country’s vast Rohingya refugee camps, AFP reports.

Health experts and NGOs have issuing warnings that the virus could race through the camps that house almost a million people forced to flee a military offensive in Myanmar almost two years ago.

Authorities in early April imposed a complete lockdown on the surrounding Cox’s Bazar district after a number of cases, restricting traffic in and out of the camps.

The two refugees had been put into isolation, and authorities stepped up prevention measures and were scaling up testing, said Abu Toha Bhuiyan, a local health coordinator.

On Thursday, Bangladesh’s national institute of epidemiology, disease control and research (IEDCR) reported 14 more deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total death toll in the country to 283.

IEDCR has so far recorded 18,863 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 1,041 reported on Thursday.
 
Bangladesh urged to end internet blackout in Rohingya camps

A UK charity is urging authorities in Bangladesh to lift internet restrictions in camps housing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees after the first cases of the coronavirus were detected there on Thursday.

"We urge Bangladesh and the international community to do everything they can to ensure that all necessary aid reaches those who need it," said Tun Khin, president of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK).

"This must also be a wake-up call to the Bangladeshi authorities to lift internet restrictions in the camps. The current blackout is not just preventing aid groups from doing their jobs, but also blocking refugees from accessing life-saving information."
 
Emergency teams were moving swiftly on Friday to prevent a coronavirus "nightmare" in the world's largest refugee settlement after the first confirmed cases in a camp housing nearly a million Rohingya in Bangladesh.

Local government official Mahfuzar Rahman said on Friday an entire block in one camp, housing approximately 5,000 people, was shut off.

"We have locked down the block, barring anyone from entering or leaving their homes," he said.

Rahman added that they were also trying to "contact-trace" people the infected person had met and they would all be brought to isolation centres set up in the camps.

A senior advocate for Refugees International, Daniel Sullivan, said the first COVID-19 case was the "realisation of a nightmare scenario".

A senior US official who has visited the refugees said it was only a matter of time for the virus to reach them.

"The refugee camp is incredibly crowded. The COVID virus will spread through there very rapidly," said Sam Brownback, the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

On Thursday, local health coordinator Abu Toha Bhuiyan said two refugees had tested positive.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) later said one case was a Rohingya man, and the other was a local man who lived near the camp and was being treated at a clinic inside the area.

WHO spokesman Catalin Bercaru told the AFP news agency that "rapid investigation teams" were being deployed and that the men's contacts were being traced for quarantine and testing.

Shamim Jahan from Save the Children said "we are looking at the very real prospect that thousands of people may die from COVID-19", with "no intensive care beds" in the camps.

Virus warnings
There have long been warnings that the virus could spread like wildfire through the cramped, sewage-soaked alleys of the network of 34 camps in the Cox's Bazar district bordering Myanmar.

Most of the Muslim refugees have been there since about 750,000 fled a 2017 military offensive in neighbouring Myanmar for which its government is facing genocide charges at the UN's top court.

In early April, authorities had locked down the surrounding Cox's Bazar district - home to 3.4 million people including the refugees - after a number of COVID-19 cases.

Bangladesh restricted traffic in and out of the camps and forced aid organisations to slash manpower by 80 percent.

The country of 160 million people is under lockdown and has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases in recent days, with almost 19,000 confirmed infections and 300 deaths as of Thursday.

Rights groups and others have also criticised Bangladesh for cutting internet access in the camps, which authorities say is to combat drug trafficking and other alleged criminal activities.

The lack of internet access has meant that information is hard to come by and that rumours abound, for example that coronavirus is always fatal.

"Open communication is critical to promoting hygiene awareness and tracking the spread of the disease," Sullivan said.

"I have been calling on the Bangladeshi government to give internet access. It just seems to me ludicrous that they're not," Brownback told reporters in Washington, DC.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...us-spread-rohingya-camps-200515070825239.html
 
Authorities in Bangladesh have moved hundreds of Rohingya refugees living on a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to storm shelters as super cyclone Amphan, the strongest recorded in the region, barrels down, they said on Wednesday.
 
Fierce cyclone complicates disease prevention efforts in Bangladesh

Sixteen more people have died from Covid-19 in Bangladesh, as the arrival of what could be the most powerful cyclone in more than a decade complicates efforts to maintain measures to curb the spread of the disease.

Authorities were attempting to move 2.2 million people to safety, officials said, as Cyclone Amphan made landfall on Wednesday morning, after days brewing in the Bay of Bengal. The highest level of alert was raised at 6am, said Enamur Rahman, the junior minister for disaster management and relief.

It came as the latest update from the Bangladesh’s institute of epidemiology, disease control and research (IEDCR), reported that 1,617 more people had tested positive for the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the most in a single day since widespread testing began in the country. So far Bangladesh has recorded 26,738 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 386 deaths from the Covid-19 respiratory disease it can cause.

Videos and photos showed people heading to shelters, some carrying bags with their belongings and all wearing masks to protect against coronavirus. Officials went from village to village with loudspeakers warning people to take shelter.

In Sathira district, the local chief government administrator, SM Mostafa Kamal, said evacuees were given dry food, baby food and medicine. He said officials were distributing masks and other safety equipment to keep coronavirus from spreading while people stay in thousands of shelters.

The cyclone slowed slightly as it reached cooler waters near the coast. But with wind speeds ranging between 160 and 170 km/h, the storm could cause extensive damage: winds and heavy rain battering flimsy houses, a storm surge that may push seawater 25km inland and the possibility of flooding in crowded cities.

The cyclone is occurring during the Islamic holy month Ramadan, and reports from Muslim-majority Bangladesh said many villagers were fasting all day Tuesday, then eating at night before heading for the shelters early Wednesday.
 
Potential for contagion in Rohingya refugee camps is high: UN

The UN refugee agency chief has said that coronavirus cases in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are under control but warned that the potential for contagion was high.

"Luckily we have not seen a major outbreak, although, in the last week, we've seen about five confirmed cases of refugees with the coronavirus," Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for UNCHR, told Al Jazeera for the AJNewNormal show.

"…. the [infected Rohingya] are fine, it's under control, but of course the potential for contagion there is high," he said.
 
Bangladesh has reported its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases, as it begins cleaning up after the fiercest cyclone to hit the country since 1999.

The institute of epidemiology, disease control and research said 1,773 more people had tested positive for the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 28,511. Of those, 5,602 have so far recovered, while 408 have died - 22 of them in the past 24 hours.

The latest figures came as Bangladesh and India began a clean-up operation after Cyclone Amphan, which killed 88 people across both countries as it flattened houses, uprooted trees, blew off roofs and toppled electricity pylons, and cause a storm surge that inundated coastal villages, AFP reports.

The UN office in Bangladesh estimates 10 million people were affected, and some 500,000 people may have lost their homes. The death toll was far lower than the many thousands killed in previous cyclones, thanks in part to improved weather forecasting and better response plans. But it has raised fears that overcrowding in storm shelters may exacerbate the spread of coronavirus.
 
About 15,000 Rohingya refugees are now under coronavirus quarantine in Bangladesh’s vast camps, officials said Monday, as the number of confirmed infections among them rose to 29.

Health experts have long warned that the virus could race through the cramped settlements, housing almost a million Muslims who fled violence in Myanmar, and officials had restricted movement to the area in April.

On Monday, Bangladesh recorded a fresh high in coronavirus detections, with 1,975 more people reported as testing positive in the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 35,585. Of those who have tested positive, so far 7,334 have recovered and 501 have died, with 21 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, according to the country’s epidemiology institute.

The first cases in the Rohingya camps were detected in mid-May. “None of the infections are critical,” Toha Bhuiyan, a senior health official in the surrounding Cox’s Bazar area told AFP. “Most hardly show any symptoms. Still we have brought them in isolation centres and quarantined their families.”

Mahbubur Rahman, the chief health official of Cox’s Bazar, said authorities hoped this week they would double the number of tests being performed daily from 188. He said further entry restrictions have been imposed on the camp, with a 14-day quarantine in place for anyone visiting from Dhaka. “We are very worried because the Rohingya camps are very densely populated. We suspect community transmission (of the virus) has already begun,” Rahman told AFP.
 
Bangladesh lifted its coronavirus lockdown on Sunday, with millions heading back to work in densely populated cities and towns even as the country logged a record spike in deaths and new infections, AFP reports.

“The lockdown has been lifted and we are heading almost towards our regular life,” health department spokeswoman Nasima Sultana said, calling on those returning to work to wear masks and observe social distancing.

The lifting comes as Bangladesh - which on Friday took an emergency pandemic loan from the International Monetary Fund - reported its biggest daily jump in infections Sunday, with 2,545 new cases and a record 40 deaths.

Restrictions to curb the virus imposed on March 26 have been gradually eased in recent weeks, with only educational institutions remaining closed.

The country of 168 million has reported 47,151 infections and 650 deaths, although experts warn Bangladesh is not conducting enough testing and the actual toll is likely much higher, AFP reports.
 
A 71-year-old man has become the first Rohingya living in vast refugee camps in Bangladesh to die from coronavirus, an official said today. Health experts have long warned that the deadly virus could race through the vast network of settlements housing almost a million refugees in the country’s southeast.

“He died on 31 May. But last night we got the confirmation that he died of Covid-19,” said Toha Bhuiyan, a senior health official in the Cox’s Bazar district.

The fatality was in Kutupalong, the largest of the camps, which is home to roughly 600,000 people. The man was among at least 29 Rohingya to have tested positive for the virus in the camps. Bhuiyan said the victim died in an isolation centre run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders and was buried in the camp the same day.

“We are going to speak to administrators in the camp and alert people about the death,” Bhuiyan said, adding they were trying to find people the deceased had been in contact with.

Mahbubur Rahman, head of the health department in Cox’s Bazar district, told AFP officials were waiting for a full report on the death. A UN spokesperson said they would comment later.

Last week about 15,000 refugees were placed in quarantine as the number of cases increased, while Bangladesh and UN authorities have prepared seven isolation centres with the capacity to treat more than 700 patients inside the camps. Aid workers say many of the refugees know very little about the virus. They blame this partly on local authorities cutting off access to the internet in September to combat what they said were drug traffickers and other criminals.
 
52,445 cases with 709 deaths.

COVID-19 is probably peaking in Bangladesh currently.
 
Bangladeshi courts freeing child suspects due to virus risk

Authorities in Bangladesh have been releasing hundreds of children suspected of committing mostly petty crimes as they try to keep the coronavirus from spreading in overcrowded detention centres, officials have said.

The orders for their release on bail came from virtual courts set up by the country's Supreme Court with the help of UNICEF, officials said.

About 400 children have been granted bail in recent weeks and more than 300 of them have already been reunited with their families, said Natalie McCauley, chief of child protection at UNICEF in Bangladesh.

She said the decision came as public health experts said children living in the country's detention centres face a higher risk of getting infected, mainly because of overcrowding and poor conditions.
 
Bangladesh’s minister tests positive for coronavirus

A Bangladeshi minister tested positive for the novel coronavirus, local media reported.

Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, the Chittagong hill tracts affairs minister, is the first in the country's cabinet to have tested positive for the virus.

"Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing was suffering from coronavirus like symptoms for the last nine days and we got confirmation on Saturday night that he had contracted COVID-19," Dr Aung Swi Prue Marma, a civil surgeon at Bandarban district, told Anadolu Agency.
 
Refugees stranded by virus have nowhere to go

Bangladesh has said it will not take back 269 Rohingya refugees who have been detained by Malaysia.

The refugees - who originally fled persecution in Myanmar - are thought to have left southern Bangladesh in a boat in early April.

In previous years, smugglers have brought tens of thousands of Rohingya illegally into Malaysia, which is seen as a regional safe haven.

But recently, Malaysia has refused to allow refugees boats to land, citing the virus pandemic.

In this instance however, the refugees were brought to shore and detained after they were discovered by the coast guard in Malaysian waters. Malaysia later asked Bangladesh to take the refugees back.

But Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the Anadolu Agency: "Bangladesh will not take them. Bangladesh is neither obligated nor in a position to take any more Rohingya."
 
Rohingya leaders have urged Bangladesh to lift an internet ban imposed on one million refugees in the city of Cox’s Bazar, warning that rumours and panic over Covid-19 is deterring people from getting tested, write Rebecca Ratcliffe and Rizwan Ahmed.

Limits on communication are exacerbating already dire conditions for the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, who live in cramped bamboo huts, with as many as eight family members to a room, and are dependent on communal taps and toilets. In some areas, basics such as soap are lacking.

Aid agencies in the city in south-east Bangladesh, 20 miles from the border with Myanmar, have warned repeatedly that the virus could thrive in the camps and that medical facilities would be unable to cope. As of 10 June, 35 refugees have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization, while three have died. In total, 30 are in quarantine, though it is feared that there are more undetected cases.

The outbreak has coincided with flu season, adding to confusion over symptoms, but community members say that people are avoiding going to clinics because they are worried about being moved to isolation facilities.

Last week, two people fled quarantine because they believed they would be sent to centres far from their families, according to reports.
 
Bangladesh lecturer charged over coronavirus Facebook post

A Bangladeshi university lecturer has been charged under controversial digital security laws for allegedly mocking a former health minister who died of the novel coronavirus, the latest in a string of arrests over social media posts about the pandemic.

The arrest late on Saturday of Sirajum Munira, 28, came after former Minister of Health and Family Mohammad Nasim died of the virus.

There is growing concern about the spread of the virus across the impoverished country, which has been reopening after a lockdown despite a rise in new cases.

Activists say internet laws are being used to suppress criticism of the government's handling the coronavirus pandemic.

"She posted a derogatory comment on the death of Mohammad Nasim. She mocked a dead person," local police chief Rabiul Islam told the AFP news agency.

"It went viral and created negative reactions and undermined the image of the country."

Munira, a lecturer at northern Begum Rokeya University, later apologised and deleted her comments after posting them on Facebook.

At least 44 people have been arrested and charged since March under internet laws for allegedly spreading rumours and propaganda.

The virus has killed many prominent Bangladeshis, including business tycoons, bureaucrats and senior doctors.

On Saturday, Sheikh Abdullah, the state minister for religious affairs and a close ally of the prime minister, died of complications related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, after being admitted to a military hospital.

Front-line workers, including police officers, have also been hit by the pandemic.

Two ministers in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's cabinet, as well as five members of Parliament, have also been infected, a minister told AFP.

Since the South Asian country reported its first case in early March, the number of infections has risen to more than 87,000 with at least 1,100 deaths.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ity-atlanta-live-updates-200614040635038.html
 
As hospitals in Bangladesh turn patients away, and frontline workers bear the brunt of rising case numbers, there are fears the densely populated South Asian country could become a new global hotspot.

Bangladesh has one of the lowest ratios of hospital beds to patients in the world. There has been a shortage of intensive care unit beds during the coronavirus outbreak - figures vary but it is estimated that there are just over 1,000 beds for a population of more than 160 million.

And with limited beds, stories of patients being turned away from hospitals continue to emerge. Dr Moyeen Uddin tested positive for the virus at the end of March but was unable to get on to a ventilator at the very hospital he worked at, in his home city of Syhlet.

"At that time there were no ventilators dedicated to Covid patients," said Salahuddin Ahmed, another doctor who had been his friend for decades.

Dr Uddin was transferred to a hospital in Dhaka, more than 200km (124 miles) away, but he later died, leaving behind a wife and two young children.
 
Dhaka commuters hitting the streets again after a months-long lockdown are opting for bikes to maintain social distancing - and are discovering that pedal power is a way to beat the city's notorious traffic.

Bangladesh lifted restrictions on movement at the end of May to revive its stuttering economy, including on the fume-spewing three-wheelers and crowded buses that serve as public transport in the capital.

But the city's snarling gridlock - in which cars often crawl along at a snail's pace - has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

That is partly because many are staying home over lingering fears they will catch the virus.

But for increasing numbers thronging Dhaka's Bangshal Bike Bazar - home to some 150 speciality stores - pedalling to work or school is becoming the new normal.

'Historic high'

"Bike sales have grown to an historic high," shop owner Mohammad Ibrahim, who now sells nine bicycles a day instead of three, told AFP news agency.

"Most people now avoid buses, taxis or auto-rickshaws ... [and] buying bicycles as alternatives."

Salesman Abdus Sobhan said mid-range bicycles selling at 10,000-25,000 taka ($120-$300) had sold out.

"I think a bicycle would be much safer for my commute," college student and part-time call centre worker Toufikul Islam told AFP as he bought a new two-wheeler.

Rezoan Mahbub, a senior executive at a paper-importing firm, said the lockdown made him realise the benefits of owning a pushbike.

"Bicycles are more convenient than cars or motorbikes," he told AFP.

Other major cities are experiencing similar spikes in sales, the Bangladesh Bicycle Merchant Assembling and Importers Association told AFP.

"This year ... we expect bike sales will double," association spokesman Mohammad Rasel said of the $500 million market, where around 1.5 million pushbikes are sold each year.

Mahbub said he was optimistic that the turn to two-wheelers in Dhaka would see residents breathing cleaner air in the city.

"It is really encouraging how young people are getting used to bicycles instead of cars or motorised vehicles. It is indeed a positive change," he said.
 
Field hospitals to deal with 'alarming' rise in cases in Bangladesh

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is opening two new field hospitals in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh to support what it calls "an alarming and growing number" of coronavirus cases.

There is huge concern about possible outbreaks in the area’s refugee camps, which are filled with nearly one million Rohingya Muslims, who fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.

The field hospitals will treat refugees as well as loca residents.

So far, more than 1,500 cases have been confirmed in the Cox's Bazar region, including 37 within the camps. But testing is limited and some analysts suggest there could be many undetected cases.

Nationwide, Bangladesh reported 3,480 more cases and 38 further deaths on Monday. The country has seen a total of 1,502 fatalities and 115,786 registered cases.
 
Probably now it’s getting out of control even for Hasina’s pet media.

I give two stats - over 50% of our (me & wife) up to second circle relatives (siblings, parents, first cousins & first uncle aunts) lives out side BD ..... from rest 8 families now live in Dhaka - we have so far 1 death and 6 confirmed cases among these 8 families and around 35 people.

Second stats is, the grave yard very close to our Dhaka house is one of few designated spot for CV caused burials - previously, average graves dug there per week was around 25 or roughly 3-4 per day ..... last week, dad said the daily number has crossed 25.......

BD is among the worst situation and I fear millions of casualties before they find some vaccines.
 
MMHS said:
Probably now it’s getting out of control even for Hasina’s pet media.

I give two stats - over 50% of our (me & wife) up to second circle relatives (siblings, parents, first cousins & first uncle aunts) lives out side BD ..... from rest 8 families now live in Dhaka - we have so far 1 death and 6 confirmed cases among these 8 families and around 35 people.

Second stats is, the grave yard very close to our Dhaka house is one of few designated spot for CV caused burials - previously, average graves dug there per week was around 25 or roughly 3-4 per day ..... last week, dad said the daily number has crossed 25.......

BD is among the worst situation and I fear millions of casualties before they find some vaccines.
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Casualties have been surprisingly low (unless Hasina's government is lying or not reporting correctly).

I think this COVID-19 crisis may become the biggest crisis in BD history.
 
Social distancing simply isn’t possible for the 1 million Rohingya refugees who live in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, in southeastern Bangladesh.

Families live in close quarters inside flimsy bamboo shacks, using communal toilets and water facilities. Sometimes the most basic items, such as soap, are lacking.

Most of the Rohingya refugees living in the camp fled there in 2017, following a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military, which the UN has since said was carried out with “genocidal intent”. On top of psychological trauma, many have underlying health conditions that leave them especially vulnerable to Covid-19.

The UN, and other agencies, have raced to open new facilities in Cox’s Bazar, but equipment is still extremely limited, and it is feared medical centres could be quickly overwhelmed. As of 28 June, 49 cases and five deaths have been recorded.
 
Forty-four more people have died from Covid-19 in Bangladesh, according to the latest update from health authorities, as 3,201 more people tested positive for the coronavirus that causes it.

The total death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in the south Asian country is now 2,096, while 76,149 have recovered, from a total caseload of 165,618. So far, 863,307 tests have been carried out in the country.

TBS News reports that 63,801 people are quarantined across the country.
 
Bangladeshi coronavirus sufferers shun hospitals

Thousands of beds for coronavirus patients in Bangladesh are lying empty despite the country struggling with a rising caseload as people are too scared to enter hospitals, officials and sufferers say.

Some patients have bluntly told health workers they would "rather die at home than die in a hospital", an official for a medical charity told AFP news agency.

Bangladesh has registered about 180,000 COVID-19 infections, and around 3,000 new cases are being added each day, while the death toll stood at 2,275 by Friday.
 
MMHS said:
Probably now it’s getting out of control even for Hasina’s pet media.

I give two stats - over 50% of our (me & wife) up to second circle relatives (siblings, parents, first cousins & first uncle aunts) lives out side BD ..... from rest 8 families now live in Dhaka - we have so far 1 death and 6 confirmed cases among these 8 families and around 35 people.

Second stats is, the grave yard very close to our Dhaka house is one of few designated spot for CV caused burials - previously, average graves dug there per week was around 25 or roughly 3-4 per day ..... last week, dad said the daily number has crossed 25.......

BD is among the worst situation and I fear millions of casualties before they find some vaccines.
Click to expand...

That's sad to hear. Hope you and your family are safe bro.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
That's sad to hear. Hope you and your family are safe bro.
Click to expand...

My old man survived after 16 days fever & Mom after 12 days fever, and that's without being hospitalized. My Sis is an FCPS Doc - instead of sending them to hospital, she moved to our house and took care of both ... and she got infected as well. But, all three are cured now. Roughly, it has penetrated around 40-45% family in greater Dhaka, that's a population size similar to Canada, and in most of the affected families, 60-75% adults over 35 (100% for our home) are positive.
 
MMHS said:
My old man survived after 16 days fever & Mom after 12 days fever, and that's without being hospitalized. My Sis is an FCPS Doc - instead of sending them to hospital, she moved to our house and took care of both ... and she got infected as well. But, all three are cured now. Roughly, it has penetrated around 40-45% family in greater Dhaka, that's a population size similar to Canada, and in most of the affected families, 60-75% adults over 35 (100% for our home) are positive.
Click to expand...

In densely populated countries like india and BD, i fear the worst. There are already 3 cases in my gated community and my city (Bangalore) is going into lockdown for another 10 days.
 
Thousands of beds for coronavirus patients in Bangladesh are lying empty despite the country struggling with a rising caseload as people are too scared to enter hospitals, officials and sufferers say.

Some patients have bluntly told health workers they would "rather die at home than die in a hospital", an official for a medical charity told AFP news agency.

Bangladesh has registered about 183,795 COVID-19 infections, and some 3,000 new cases are being added each day, while the death toll stood at 2,352 on Monday.

But medical experts say the real figures are likely much higher because so little testing has been carried out.

In the capital Dhaka, about 4,750 of 6,305 beds set aside for coronavirus patients are not being used, the government's health department acknowledged.

There are only about 100 patients in a new 2,000-bed field hospital especially built to fight the pandemic.

Authorities in the second city of Chittagong, which has emerged as a virus hotspot, say only half of its dedicated hospital beds are currently filled.

The two cities have a combined population of 25 million and account for approximately 80 percent of Bangladesh's 87,000 active cases.

The health department said the beds were not being used because many infected people were being treated at home.

"Most of the patients have mild symptoms. Adequate telemedicine services are available. That may be the reason for empty beds in hospitals," health department deputy head Nasima Sultana told AFP news agency.

The number of beds had been boosted in anticipation of extra cases, she added.

But health experts and those infected with the virus say people are worried about the level of care they would receive in a public hospital.

"They told us they would rather die at home than die in a hospital," a senior official for the Al Manahil charity in Chittagong, which provides ambulance and burial services, told AFP.

A survey of more than 80,000 people carried out with United Nations backing found 44 percent of Bangladeshis were "too scared" to even call the government's COVID-19 helpline. Many feared being taken to hospital if they tested positive.

Bangladesh's public hospitals are not "patient-friendly", according to Rashid e Mahbub, head of the Bangladesh Health Rights Movement.

"A negative perception has been created, and that is prompting many patients to stay at home. Few people can afford the expensive private hospitals."

Only people with serious respiratory problems go to public facilities, said the activist.

"A significant number of COVID-19 patients are dying at home."

A woman who was among eight members of her family to contract the virus said all of them had stayed home.

Even when her mother's breathing fell to "danger levels", the family did not send her to a hospital and instead rented oxygen cylinders, the woman told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the nature of her job.

"We heard the doctors and nurses don't come near patients for fear of being infected," she said.

Bangladesh hospitals had a poor reputation even before the pandemic, with more than 500,000 people travelling to India last year for treatment, according to official figures.

Thousands of wealthier Bangladeshis go to Thailand or Singapore for check-ups, but with the pandemic hitting international travel, they have been unable to leave the country.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...00713054913016.html?__twitter_impression=true
 
Bangladesh arrests hospital owner over fake virus results

A Bangladesh hospital owner accused of issuing thousands of fake negative coronavirus test results to patients at his two clinics was arrested Wednesday while trying to fleeing to India in a burqa, police said.

The arrest marked the end of a nine-day manhunt for Mohammad Shahed over allegations of giving fake certificates to patients saying they were virus-free without even testing them.

Shahed, 42, was one of more than a dozen people detained by authorities over the past few days in connection with the scam.

"He was arrested from the bank of a border river as he was trying to flee to India. He was wearing a burqa," Rapid Action Battalion spokesman Colonel Ashique Billah told AFP.

"His hospitals carried out 10,500 coronavirus tests, out of which 4,200 were genuine and the rest, 6,300 test reports, were given without conducting tests," Billah added.
 
MenInG said:
Bangladesh arrests hospital owner over fake virus results

A Bangladesh hospital owner accused of issuing thousands of fake negative coronavirus test results to patients at his two clinics was arrested Wednesday while trying to fleeing to India in a burqa, police said.

The arrest marked the end of a nine-day manhunt for Mohammad Shahed over allegations of giving fake certificates to patients saying they were virus-free without even testing them.

Shahed, 42, was one of more than a dozen people detained by authorities over the past few days in connection with the scam.

"He was arrested from the bank of a border river as he was trying to flee to India. He was wearing a burqa," Rapid Action Battalion spokesman Colonel Ashique Billah told AFP.

"His hospitals carried out 10,500 coronavirus tests, out of which 4,200 were genuine and the rest, 6,300 test reports, were given without conducting tests," Billah added.
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heres a video in it - hope the court sentence him with a harsh jail time- i wont be surprised he have a fake qualification:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aM6rkahOJBs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
finalfantasy7 said:
heres a video in it - hope the court sentence him with a harsh jail time- i wont be surprised he have a fake qualification:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aM6rkahOJBs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Yeah. He deserves a harsh punishment. He has put other people in danger.

I don't trust any COVID-19 statistics that comes out of Bangladesh because of people like this man.
 
Last edited:
The owner of two hospitals in Bangladesh that issued thousands of fake coronavirus test results has been arrested as he attempted to flee the country, officials have said.

Mohammed Shahed, a member of the country's governing party who regularly appeared on TV talk shows, was wearing a burka when he was arrested on Wednesday by the police's elite Rapid Action Battalion after a nine-day manhunt.

Shahed, who is chairman of the Regent Group and owner of two Regent hospitals in the capital Dhaka, was caught near the Indian border with a pistol.

Abdul Baten, a commissioner of the detective branch in Dhaka, said Shahed admitted after his arrest that his hospitals did not have proper equipment to conduct coronavirus tests.

A court has allowed investigators to keep Shahed in custody for 10 days for questioning on Thursday.

Officials said the hospitals had issued more than 10,000 coronavirus test results and about 60% were fake even though patients were charged for them.

The hospitals allegedly arranged for the remaining tests to be conducted by another hospital.

The two hospitals had not renewed their medical licences for years.

However, the country's ministry of health still signed a deal with Shahed to dedicate the hospitals to coronavirus testing and treatment as the number of cases rose in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh was nearing 200,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, including 2,496 deaths.

Public health experts say the actual number is much higher because only about 70 testing facilities are available in the country of 160 million people.

Shahed belongs to the governing Awami League party headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and is a member of its foreign affairs subcommittee.

He has more than 50 illegal cases pending against him across the country on various charges including forgery and cheating.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...-over-thousands-of-fake-test-results-12030254
 
Bangladesh says it will stop providing daily updates on coronavirus infections and deaths in the country from 12 August. Health Minister Zahid Maleque says this is because “we believe the infection rate is decreasing and the situation is getting under control.”

In its latest weekly report, the World Health Organization (WHO) says new cases in the country have dropped by 2.5% from the previous week.

But the headline figure masks a more complicated reality - reported cases are fluctuating widely, with daily tallies ranging between 900 and 3,000 since the start of August, according to WHO data.

This may well be to do with the amount of testing being carried out, which has also fluctuated widely – from around 12,000 a day in July, then down to less than 4,000 in early August and back up to 12,000 again.

The authorities attributed the drop in testing to severe flooding in July as well as what they say is the unwillingness of people to get tested due to a lack of trust in medical facilities.

And Bangladesh still has a high rate of positive tests - at the end of last week it was nearly a quarter of all tests which suggests that only a small proportion of the true number of infections is being picked up.
 
MenInG said:
Bangladesh says it will stop providing daily updates on coronavirus infections and deaths in the country from 12 August. Health Minister Zahid Maleque says this is because “we believe the infection rate is decreasing and the situation is getting under control.”

In its latest weekly report, the World Health Organization (WHO) says new cases in the country have dropped by 2.5% from the previous week.

But the headline figure masks a more complicated reality - reported cases are fluctuating widely, with daily tallies ranging between 900 and 3,000 since the start of August, according to WHO data.

This may well be to do with the amount of testing being carried out, which has also fluctuated widely – from around 12,000 a day in July, then down to less than 4,000 in early August and back up to 12,000 again.

The authorities attributed the drop in testing to severe flooding in July as well as what they say is the unwillingness of people to get tested due to a lack of trust in medical facilities.

And Bangladesh still has a high rate of positive tests - at the end of last week it was nearly a quarter of all tests which suggests that only a small proportion of the true number of infections is being picked up.
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Wow! Embarrassing from Bangladeshi government. Shocking and sad.
 
In Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, nearly one in five people being treated for medical conditions have a form of lung disease, according to a new report, making them vulnerable to coronavirus as it spreads in the camp where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar live.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said many of the refugees face other chronic health conditions, including malnutrition and diarrhoea, in one of the world's most overcrowded camps.

Officially, there have only been 82 COVID-19 cases and six related deaths, but IFRC said concerns remain high that the figures may not tell the whole story.
 
Bangladesh faces twin crises as coronavirus deals new blow to flood-battered nation

Key Points:

In addition to battling its heaviest rainfall in recent years, Bangladesh is also struggling to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has hampered recovery efforts and dealt a blow to job prospects.

The people who are most vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic are the same people who are “living on the front lines of climate change,” said Afsari Begum, senior specialist for disaster risk reduction at the development charity, Practical Action.

When Bangladesh reopened hundreds of garment factories in April, thousands of desperate workers flocked back to overcrowded industrial areas, including the capital of Dhaka, which currently has the bulk of the country’s reported coronavirus infections.

SINGAPORE — Bangladesh is confronting a twin crisis of extreme weather disasters, and a pandemic that’s killed thousands so far.

In addition to battling its heaviest rainfall in recent years, the South Asian nation is also struggling to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has hampered recovery efforts and dealt a blow to job prospects.

The people who are most vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic are the same people who are “living on the front lines of climate change,” Afsari Begum, senior specialist for disaster risk reduction at the development charity, Practical Action, told CNBC.

“We’re concerned that a lot of people will be pushed further into poverty because of Coronavirus. If communities are battered by intense storms and floods that destroy or damage homes, agricultural land, schools and hospitals, it will only make things worse,” she said in a report commissioned by the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, which aims to help countries build their flood resilience.

Extreme weather
Bangladesh’s annual monsoon season typically lasts from June to September, according to official ministry sources.

In May, Cyclone Amphan — said to be Bangladesh’s most intense cyclone in two decades — devastated coastal villages, and left half a million people homeless while cutting off another million from power.

To top it off, Bangladesh endured “its worst flood in a decade” with persistently heavy monsoon rains that began in June, the country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre chief, Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, told the Agence France-Presse.

Faced with widespread unemployment on top of intermittent lockdown restrictions between late March to early August, millions of locals remain stranded with little access to food and health care, while exposed to waterborne diseases in their waterlogged, overcrowded homes.

Desperate local conditions have made public health measures like social distancing and increased hand washing difficult, said Hasina Rahman, interim country director for Bangladesh at the international humanitarian non-profit organization Concern Worldwide. She said that people can’t even afford food — much less soap, hand sanitizers and masks.

Prior to the pandemic, many of Bangladesh’s rural poor traditionally coped with seasonal flooding by finding jobs in nearby cities like garment production or rickshaw pulling, and returning to their farms when water levels receded. Others used to head overseas to find work in sectors like construction and domestic labor for longer periods of time.

However, this year, economic stagnation and job losses amid Covid-19 have forced workers to return to their flood-prone villages, where there are even fewer economic opportunities. This has devastated remittance flows from overseas and Bangladesh’s urban centers.

Many more of Bangladesh’s rural poor are afraid to take shelter at evacuation centers, with some even opting to live on their rooftops to escape the waters instead, said Begum, who said they fear losing what little land they own.

Yet, their tenuous grip on their sole life asset is steadily slipping away. Over the years, rising sea levels have resulted in fresh water supply being infiltrated by salt water and affecting agricultural production. In addition, soil erosion has ravaged their land due to climate change, forcing them to increasingly prioritize fresh water for irrigation and their livestock, while traveling further to find safe drinking water for their own households.

‘Vicious cycle’ of poverty and disaster
By 2050, rising sea levels will forcibly displace 18 million Bangladeshis from their homes and submerge almost a fifth of the nation’s land mass, according to the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, a non-governmental research institution.

Bangladesh is already experiencing waves of forced migration, with over 400,000 people alone flocking to Dhaka annually in part due to the loss of land and dwindling economic opportunities, according to the World Bank, which cited the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

When Bangladesh reopened hundreds of garment factories in April, thousands of desperate workers flocked back to overcrowded industrial areas, including the capital of Dhaka, which currently has the bulk of the country’s reported coronavirus infections.

“We see desperate workers willing to accept very low wages in extremely dangerous conditions, with no serious health and safety protections, let alone social distancing measures or personal protective equipment,” said Jon Hartough, country director for Bangladesh at the labor advocacy non-profit firm, Solidarity Center.

“It is a vicious cycle of poverty, disaster and recovery,” said Rahman, adding that the cumulative effect of one shock after another is taking its toll on Bangladeshi locals, whose meager life savings have dried up.

Begum agreed, saying: “After some time, these poor people … stopped caring about what is going to happen. They see really very little difference between starvation and dying from the virus.”

Uncertainty of climate change
For now, there is at least hope that the coronavirus pandemic will ease if a vaccine is successfully developed. Bangladesh has reported over 337,500 coronavirus cases and more than 4,700 deaths so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

However, the battle against climate change is much less certain.

“Many more such crisis moments will come,” said Begum, adding that there are more “frequent and intense” climate disasters taking place.

The latest figures from the World Resources Institute show that China accounts for more than 26% of global emissions, the U.S. contributes 14%, while the European Union accounts for 9.6%. Bangladesh accounted for less than 0.35% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, according to the country’s ministry of forestry and environment.

Local officials and humanitarian aid organizations have urged the global community to honor the 2015 Paris Agreement more closely, which included a combined pledge of $100 billion in funds by 2020 to invest in vulnerable nations’ resilience against climate change.

“Sadly, not enough of this money is actually reaching the people on the frontlines,” said Begum. “Developed countries are actually failing to keep their promises. They are failing to allocate climate finances to the poorest nations.”
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Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/14/ban...-deals-new-blow-to-flood-battered-nation.html.
 
Bangladesh adds 1,567 more positive cased of coronavirus

(MENAFN) Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) announced that the overall toll of positive COVID-19 cases that have been reported across the nation by Saturday has reached 347,372, as 1,567 of the patients confirmed in the last 24 hours, whereas in the meantime, another 32 patients succumbed to the highly infectious disease, lifting the death toll to 4,913.

Over the stated period, the country carried out a number of 13,170 laboratory tests for suspected Coronavirus cases.

The DGHS further revealed that the total record of patients who have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement touched 254,386 in total, with 2,051 of those reported cured in the past hours.

Based on" the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.41 percent and the current recovery rate is 73.23 percent.

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Source: https://menafn.com/1100822887/Bangladesh-adds-1567-more-positive-cased-of-coronavirus.
 
Coronavirus claims 26 more lives in Bangladesh, death toll nears 5k


(MENAFN) Based on a statement issued by Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) , the overall tally of patients who have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus across the nation reached 348,916, as 1,544 of them included in the past 24 hours as of Sunday, while in the meantime, 26 more patients succumbed to the highly infectious disease, lifting the national death toll to 4,939.

Over the stated period, the country's laboratories carried out a mass testing for a total of 11,591 suspected COVID-19, the data showed.

The DGHS further included that the combined toll of patients who have survived their infection and been accordingly discharged from hospitals amounted to 256,565, with 2,179 of them leaving facilities on Sunday.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.42 percent and the current recovery rate is 73.53 percent.

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Source: https://menafn.com/1100826337/Coronavirus-claims-26-more-lives-in-Bangladesh-death-toll-nears-5k.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections reach 350,621

(MENAFN) The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that Bangladesh registered 1,705 new coronavirus infections and 40 new death cases on Monday, September 21, taking the total infections in the country to 350,621 and the total fatalities to 4,979.

The official statistics revealed that 13,053 samples were tested in the past 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total count of recovered patients in the country reached 258,717 counting 2,152 new recoveries on Monday, September 21, stated the DGHS.
The coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now 1.42 percent and the current recovery rate is 73.79 percent, according to the official statistics.

MENAFN2109202000450000ID1100831244
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100831244/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-reach-350621.
 
DHAKA, Bangladesh

The second wave of coronavirus has hit Bangladesh and the health department has taken necessary steps to tackle the pandemic, the country's health minister said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event in the capital Dhaka, Zahid Maleque said: "The second wave of coronavirus infection has started in the country and the health department, including doctors and nurses, have taken necessary measures up to the local level to deal with it."

The government is yet to make a decision on imposing a lockdown, local TV Channel 24 quoted the minister as saying.

Experts, however, think infections can grow if people ignore health guidelines. In winter, people in the South Asian country gather more in social events.

Prominent virologist Mustaq Hossain told Anadolu Agency that still there is no scientific definition of the second wave of coronavirus, except that the infection comes down to a minimum level and then raises again.

"And, when the daily infection comes down to 5% or below 10% then we could say the infection came down. In Bangladesh, we see the infection is continuing and it is not below 10% yet, and there is no relation between summer or winter and coronavirus," he said.

But in winter, there are more traditional gatherings and social events which we need to control otherwise the infections could rise further, he warned.

Dr. Mohiuddin A. Khan, a hematologist and member of National Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19, echoed Hossain's fears.

Concerned over people's reluctance to abide by safety guidelines set by the government, he told Anadolu Agency that "asymptomatic patients are on the rise and infections can further spread in winter."

On Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed her administration to prepare in advance for the second wave that could hit the country in winter.

Bangladesh on Wednesday registered 37 more deaths and 1,666 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the death total to 5,044 and infections to 352,287. Recovery rate stands at 74.31%, latest government data showed.
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Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/2nd-wave-of-covid-19-hits-bangladesh/1983091.
 
Coronavirus claims 37 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) announced in a statement that the combined number of cases that have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus across the country amounted to 352,287, as 1,666 more patients confirmed as testing positive for the virus over the last 24 hours ending of Wednesday morning, whereas in the meantime, the death toll rose by 37 to 5,044.

The official data showed that 14,150 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 262,953 including 2,163 new recoveries on Wednesday, said the DGHS.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.43 percent and the current recovery rate is 74.64 percent.

MENAFN2309202000450000ID1100845160
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100845160/Coronavirus-claims-37-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections augment to 355,384

(MENAFN) Bangladesh registered 1,540 new coronavirus infections and 28 new death cases on Thursday, September 24, taking the count at 355,384 and fatalities at 5,072, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated.

The official statistics revealed that 12,900 samples were tested in the past 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total count of recovered patients in the country reached 265,092 counting 2,139 new recoveries on Thursday, September 24, stated the DGHS.

According to the official statistics, the coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now 1.43 percent and the current recovery rate is 74.59 percent.

MENAFN2409202000450000ID1100851019
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100851019/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-augment-to-355384.
 
(MENAFN) Bangladesh registered 1,275 new coronavirus infections and 32 new death cases on Sunday, September 27, making the count at 359,148 and fatalities at 5,161, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated.

The official statistics revealed that 10,685 samples were tested in the past 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The DGHS stated that the total count of recovered patients in the country reached 270,491 counting 1,714 new recoveries on Sunday, September 27.

The coronavirus fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.44 percent and the present recovery rate is 75.31 percent, according to the official statistics.

MENAFN2709202000450000ID1100864918
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100864918/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-reach-359148.
 
Why Bangladeshis no longer fear the coronavirus
Despite the prevalence of daily new infections, many people are reluctant to abide by the government's health safety guidelines. Experts fear a severe crisis if the rules are not enforced strictly.

Jannatul Ferdous, a 28-year-old medical graduate in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, says she has noticed people in her country becoming increasingly less concerned about COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, which has so far killed over a million people worldwide.

"Following safety guidelines to stay safe from the coronavirus is a luxurious matter to many poor people in our country. They will die of hunger if they don't go out to work," Ferdous told DW.

Although the Bangladeshi government has offered some financial assistance to people in need, it wasn't enough, said Ferdous.

"Many people in my country are still living below the poverty line. They have no other choice but to go out and earn their daily bread despite the risk of getting infected by the virus."

Read more: Coronavirus: Economy down, poverty up in Bangladesh

Omi Azad, an IT professional based in Dhaka, shares a similar view. He told DW that most people he regularly encounters in the megacity aren't wearing a mask anymore. To some, the virus has become something to make fun of, he said.

"If you go out with your mask on, people think something is not right with you. I believe they have stopped caring because they did not see it as a crisis. If anyone gets COVID-19 now, they just treat it like any other fever," Azad said, adding: "Government spokespersons and media almost stopped talking about the virus. It looks like the fear has gone."

No daily updates, lack of awareness
Bangladesh has so far recorded over 360,000 coronavirus infections, with more than 5,100 related deaths. About 272,000 people have so far recovered from the disease.

Experts believe the actual death figure could be higher as government statistics include only coronavirus-related deaths that occurred in hospitals.

"A recent survey by a non-governmental organization found that a few thousand more have died with coronavirus symptoms over the last few months. They weren't tested before their death," Mohammad Mushtuq Husain, senior researcher at Bangladesh's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR), told DW.

Unlike in places like the US and Italy, the South Asian nation wasn't hit hard by the virus, Husain said, pointing to the relatively fewer related deaths. This has led people to believe that the virus is not that dangerous, the expert stressed.
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Source: https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-coronavirus-no-fear/a-55091050.
 
'Bangladesh, S.Arabia to help stranded workers return'
Over 135,000 Bangladeshi expatriate workers have been stuck in home country

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Dhaka and Riyadh will operate 20 flights starting Thursday to take back Bangladeshi migrant workers to Middle Eastern countries, Bangladesh’s top diplomat announced on Wednesday.

Some 137,000 expatriates who returned to Bangladesh since last November were unable to go back to the countries where they were employed.

“We expect that the crisis will be resolved now and the migrant workers will be able to restart their jobs,” Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters after a meeting with diplomats of six countries – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, and Malaysia.

More than 3 million Bangladeshi expatriates work in Middle Eastern countries, with nearly 2 million just in Saudi Arabia.

Most of the workers currently stranded in Bangladesh due to the coronavirus pandemic are also seeking to return to Saudi Arabia.

With their work permits expiring, the workers have been protesting outside the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry and Saudi Embassy in Dhaka for the past few days.

Momen advised the expatriate workers to contact their employers in Saudi Arabia for extension of work permits.

“We cannot do anything if their Saudi recruiters choose not to extend their work permits,” he said, adding that only 56 such cases have been reported so far.

According to the foreign minister, the government has allocated some $83 million to generate employment opportunities for expatriate workers who may not be able to secure visa extensions.

“There is no reason for people to worry. Despite the coronavirus lockdown, we have already managed to send nearly 6,000 workers back to Saudi Arabia and the rest will go soon,” said Momen.

The number of flights to the UAE – currently at 17 per week – will also soon be increased, the minister added.

Rohingya repatriation

Bangladesh and India have called for the safe, speedy, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their home country of Myanmar.

The call came in a joint statement issued after Tuesday’s virtual meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission.

“Unless the problem is resolved quickly, there are possibilities of pockets of radicalism disrupting economic growth, peace and stability in the region,” Bangladesh’s foreign minister was quoted as saying.

Bangladesh is host to more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees since August 2017, when more than 750,000 Rohingya, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar’s brutal crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, entitled Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience.
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Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/bangladesh-sarabia-to-help-stranded-workers-return/1990944.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections augmented to 364,987

(MENAFN) Bangladesh registered 1,508 new coronavirus infections and 21 new death cases on Thursday, taking the count at 364,987 and fatalities at 5,272, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated.

The official statistics revealed that 11,420 samples were tested in the past 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The DGHS stated that the total count of recovered patients in the country reached 277,078 counting 1,591 new recoveries on Thursday.

The coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now 1.44 percent and the present recovery rate is 75.91 percent, according to the official statistics.


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Source: https://menafn.com/1100888103/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-augmented-to-364987.
 
Coronavirus spreads to 1,125 new people, claims 23 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Sunday, 1,125 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 365,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Sunday bearly evening in Dhaka that "23 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included "The total number of positive cases is 368,690 and death toll stands currently at 5,348."

Over the last 24-hour period, the South Asian nation carried out a number of laboratory tests for more than 9,859 suspected COVID-19 cases, health officials declared.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100900191/Coron...new-people-claims-23-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
Coronavirus spreads to 1,442 new people, claims 27 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Monday, 1,442 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 100,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Monday early evening in Dhaka that "27 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included that the total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 283,182 including 1,526 new recoveries on Monday.

Over the last 24-hour period, the South Asian nation carried out a number of laboratory tests for more than 11,767 suspected COVID-19 cases, health officials declared.

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Source: https://menafn.com/1100905972/Coron...new-people-claims-27-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
Coronavirus spreads to 1,520new people, claims 35 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Wednesday, 1,520 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 373,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Tuesday early evening in Dhaka that "35 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included "The total number of positive cases is 373,151 and death toll stands currently at 5,440."

Over the last 24-hour period, the South Asian nation carried out a number of laboratory tests for more than 13,032 suspected COVID-19 cases, health officials declared.


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Source: https://menafn.com/1100918917/Coron...new-people-claims-35-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections reach 377,073

(MENAFN) Bangladesh registered 1,203 fresh coronavirus infections and 23 new death cases on Saturday, October 10, taking the count at 377,073 and fatalities at 5,500, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated.

The official statistics revealed that 10,859 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

The total number of recovered patients in the country reached 291,365, counting 1,453 new recoveries on Saturday, stated the DGHS.

According to the official statistics, the coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now 1.46 percent and the present recovery rate is 77.27 percent.

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Source: https://menafn.com/1100935191/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-reach-377073.
 
Coronavirus spreads to 1,537new people, claims 22 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Tuesday, 1,537 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 100,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Tuesday early evening in Dhaka that "22 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included "The total number of positive cases is 381,275 and death toll stands currently at 5,577."

Over the last 24-hour period, the South Asian nation carried out a number of laboratory tests for more than 13,815 suspected COVID-19 cases, health officials declared.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100950045/Coron...new-people-claims-22-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
Coronavirus spreads to 1,684 more people, claims 16 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Wednesday, 1,684 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 100,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Wednesday early evening in Dhaka that "16 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included "The total number of positive cases is 382,959 and death toll stands currently at 5,593."

The Russian government has introduced new travel restrictions for the elderly following autumn's surge in COVID-19 cases.

The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 297,449 including 1,576 new recoveries on Wednesday, said the DGHS.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100956951/Coron...ore-people-claims-16-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
‘Vulnerable’ garment workers in Bangladesh bear the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic

SINGAPORE — The coronavirus outbreak has left the garment sector in Bangladesh reeling — and thousands of factory workers bore the brunt of it as their livelihoods were abruptly taken from them.

The garment industry has long been the lifeline of the economy, but as the pandemic ravaged the world, billions of dollars worth of orders were canceled as global retailers shut their doors and brands held back orders.

Before the outbreak began, 22-year-old Mousumi, who declined to give her last name, started a new job at a garment factory in January after being unemployed since 2018. She made about 10,000 Bangladeshi taka ($118) each month until March, when factories around the country were ordered shut so as to slow the spread of the virus.

When factories reopened with limited capacity in April, Mousumi said she was put on standby for three months. Then, on Aug. 1, she said she was fired.

“They were only saying one thing: that they’re firing people because of coronavirus,” Mousumi said, according to CNBC’s translation of her remarks in Bengali.

Dulali, also 22, lost her job at ABA Fashions Limited in April where she used to make up to 11,000 taka a month with overtime pay. She has struggled to secure employment since then. Like Mousumi, she too was told the pandemic was to be blamed.

“They said because of coronavirus, there were no new orders coming and the factory owner was struggling to pay workers,” Dulali said, according to CNBC’s translation of her remarks in Bengali. She said her job search had been futile and that many others like her were also looking for work.

Dulali is living with her eight-year-old daughter. “We are living under a lot of hardship right now,” she told CNBC. She said they owe about 16,000 taka in rent. They are now scraping by with her earnings of around 500 taka each month as a cook at her landlord’s place — a fraction of the pay she used to earn.

CNBC spoke with six workers, including Mousumi and Dulali, by phone through the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation which works with various trade unions. Some of them are employed, while others say they have been looking for work since April or May.

All of them spoke about the financial hardship they face, including potential destitution, exacerbated by the pandemic’s crippling impact.

As the virus spread, many top retail brands canceled orders that were already in production. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) estimated the pandemic had an immediate impact on 1,150 factories that reported $3.18 billion worth of order cancellations. Between March and June this year, Bangladesh lost $4.9 billion worth of apparel compared to the same period in 2019, according to BGMEA.

BGMEA told CNBC that in the last three to four months its member factories have reported 71,000 workers have been laid off. A spokesperson said that most factories have retrenched workers who were employed for less than a year.

‘Vulnerable’ and ‘precarious’
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter — behind only China, according to ratings agency Moody’s.

The garment industry is a major source of export income for the country. Ready-made garments comprised 83% of Bangladesh’s total exports worth $33.67 billion in its 2019-2020 fiscal year, according to data posted by BGMEA.

More than 4,600 garment factories in Bangladesh make shirts, T-shirts, jackets, sweaters, and trousers. The apparel are mostly shipped to Europe, the United States and Canada, to be sold by local retailers in those countries.

Some 4.1 million workers — mostly women — work in the sector. But they often work long hours under punishing conditions, and earn very low wages.

“These are some of the most vulnerable workers in Bangladesh and in countries where there’s garment exports. Young workers, women workers, (are) often internal migrants. So they’re coming from the countryside to the city,” Mark Anner, a professor of labor and employment relations at Penn State University, told CNBC.

Bilkis Bigum, 30, lost her job as a garment factory worker on April 4 and has not found work since. To get by, she worked at a sick neighbor’s house as a domestic helper and initially relied on others for help with food.

She’s now taking up temporary, hourly work that nets her around 200 taka to 300 taka — but it’s not enough to pay rent at the moment. Her brothers, who are working, sometimes help her out but they have their own families to look after too, Bigum said.

“Now I work here and there, at least that way I can earn some money,” she told CNBC in Bengali.

Many of them don’t have savings and live from paycheck to paycheck, Anner explained. So, when they lose their jobs, the impact is immediate.

“Sometimes their families back home depend on them, on internal remittances — sending money from the city back home to their families. These are the most vulnerable workers, precarious in so many different ways and they’re paying the harshest price for this crisis,” he added.

Anner published a report in March about the pandemic’s immediate impact on Bangladesh’s garments sector. He said the report found many brands were initially unwilling to pay suppliers for the production costs and raw materials that were already purchased. That forced many factories to shut down operations and furlough or fire workers.

Reuters reported that while exports have staged a recovery in recent months, factory owners expect orders to be slashed by two-thirds, and say retail buyers were demanding up to 15% price cuts.

Poor working conditions
Mousumi said she joined a new factory just over a month ago that makes T-shirts and face masks.

The work hours often extend beyond the usual 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she said, adding that she sometimes worked shifts that stretched beyond midnight. “There are no fixed duty times,” she said in Bengali. “There is a lot of pressure at work, so we are forced to work. They give overtime for any work we do after 5 p.m.”

The salary she draws is less than what she earned at her previous factory, she said. She makes about 8,500 taka per month, about $100, and receives overtime compensation on days she works beyond 5 p.m.

“It’s less but I am not finding work anywhere else,” Mousumi said. “I have a lot of problems in my family so I am forced to do this job.”

Workers in the sector are not paid a living wage and often work in poor conditions, according to Thulsi Narayanasamy, senior labor rights lead at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in the U.K.

“The minimum wage that exists in many of the Asian countries, including places like Bangladesh and Cambodia, don’t cover the basic costs of living – what we call a living wage – for these workers,” she told CNBC by phone.

“So a lot of them are in debt, they don’t have enough to cover three meals a day or to cover the basic costs for them and their family. That’s the cornerstone of the industry’s exploitation,” Narayanasamy said, adding that they work “incredibly long” hours to fulfil orders with very short turnaround times. That leads to a whole range of safety issues in the factory including fire hazards, she said, pointing to the 2013 garment factory collapse in Dhaka that killed more than 1,000 people.

Brands hold power
Narayanasamy said the root cause for the numerous issues facing workers in the global apparel industry is the “deep power imbalance between the fashion brands and the factory suppliers and workers.”

As there are more suppliers than buyers, fashion brands, through their purchasing practices, determine how much they pay for orders and what kind of turnaround time they give to factories.

“Factories are not in a position to negotiate strongly because of the huge number of factories around the globe and the small number of fashion brands that monopolize the sector,” she said. “So what we end up seeing then across the board, there is nonpayment of a living wage — and that’s been well documented for a long time.”

Penn State’s Anner said he is now researching what current and future orders from brands to the factories would look like at a time when global demand for apparel is low as countries remain in partial lockdowns and many people are being asked to work from home.

“The big companies don’t know how much they’re going to sell in the coming months, they are not sure how to forecast going forward, so they’re often placing orders — but at much smaller volume than they would have this time a year ago,” he said. Data indicated buyers were pushing down on price much more now than they did years ago, he added.

“That to me is a considerable concern because that’s a double squeeze on the suppliers and the squeezes on suppliers always translate into a squeeze on workers,” he said.

For many of the workers, the pandemic has exacerbated their poverty and driven them deeper into debt.

Mousumi said she looks after her mother and has to send a monthly allowance to her in-laws. She said she accumulated debt while she was unemployed between 2018 and 2020. After losing her last job in August, she also accrued rental dues.

“Financially, I was facing a lot of difficulties ... so I had to take that job,” she said.
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Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/19/coronavirus-worsened-the-reality-for-bangladesh-garment-workers.html.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections hit 390,206

(MENAFN) The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that Bangladesh registered 1,637 new coronavirus infections and 21 new death cases on Monday, October 19, taking the count at 390,206 and fatalities at 5,681.

The official statistics revealed that 15,146 samples were tested in the past 24 hours throughout Bangladesh.

The total count of cured patients in the country reached 305,599 counting 1,627 new recoveries on Monday, October 19, added the DGHS.

The coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now at 1.46 percent and the current rebound rate is at 78.32 percent, according to the official statistics.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100980679/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-hit-390206.
 
Bangladesh coronavirus infections reach 391,586

(MENAFN) The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that Bangladesh registered 1,380 new coronavirus infections and 18 new death cases on Tuesday, October 20, making the count at 391,586 and fatalities at 5,699.

The official statistics revealed that 13,611 samples were tested in the past 24 hours throughout Bangladesh.

The DGHS stated that the total count of recovered patients in the country hit 307,141 counting 1,542 new recoveries on Tuesday, October 20.

The coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now at 1.46 percent and the current recovery rate is 78.44 percent, according to the official statistics.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1100986758/Bangladesh-coronavirus-infections-reach-391586.
 
COVID-19 deepens divide between Bangladesh's rural and urban students

Nine-year-old Subarna Akhter Sathi spends most of her days with friends at a local playground in Brahmanbaria, an eastern district of Bangladesh. Normally, Subarna would be in school or doing homework but most schools have been shut since late March, when Bangladesh went into lockdown to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus.

"My daughter has lost interest in studying since her school closed," Subarna's mother, Roksana Begum, tells DW. "She wakes up late and plays all day."

The South Asian country has registered more than 394,000 coronavirus cases and over 5,700 deaths to date.

The March 26 nationwide lockdown brought everything in the country to a near standstill, and forced 38.6 million students of all education levels out of school. Though the government eased lockdown measures after two months, education institutions are expected to remain closed until October 31.

City schools outsmart COVID-19
Bangladesh currently has an estimated 21.6 million students enrolled in its elementary and primary schools, another 13 million in secondary schools and 4 million studying at universities and colleges. According to the Ministry of Education, 76% of Bangladesh's secondary schools are located in rural areas. It says roughly 60% of primary school children attend government-run schools, which are mostly in rural areas as well.

"Rural schools lack infrastructure including digital equipment, qualified teachers and hygiene facilities," says Mahtab Uddin, a research fellow at the non-government organization (NGO) South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). Uddin says this has hindered online schooling efforts in the country.

Bangladesh's private schools, on the other hand, have been quick to adopt online learning methods in the wake of the lockdown, offering lectures delivered via social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube.

Mostly located in urban areas, these schools are attended by the country's wealthier classes. Not only are the schools better equipped and prepared, students are also more likely to have access to required technologies at home, with parents who are usually computer literate.

A long way to go
Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi government has asked state-owned radio and television stations to broadcast live and recorded lectures in an effort to address the disruption of schooling due to the pandemic. Teachers are also giving students course-related advice via mobile phone, says Akram Al Hossain, senior secretary of Bangladesh's Primary and Mass Education Ministry.

While government efforts to reach students seem to have been successful in regard to urban areas, poor internet connections and a lack of digital devices continue to deny many rural students access to such programs.

Universities have also started delivering lectures via online platforms like Zoom but there, too, lack of technical infrastructure has been a hurdle for some students.

"We began delivering lectures online in the face of challenges like our students' limited access to digital equipment and technology," said Mohammad Sahid Ullah, a professor at the University of Chittagong, one of the country's largest universities, with more than 25,000 students.

Ullah says, "Many faculty members show no interest in delivering online lectures, exacerbating our limitations." He says another problem they have is that student attendance can never be confirmed.

Dwindling finances
In a recent study, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an NGO, found that 54% of Bangladesh’s rural households lacked internet access, while 59% did not have access to smartphones.

According to University of Chittagong's Sahid Ullah, the government will have to assess factors like access to technology, literacy and student capability before designing an online communication strategy.

In addition to limited infrastructure, people living in rural areas — like 9-year-old Subarna and her mother, Roksana — have been forced to grapple with lack of income since the lockdown began. Buying a smartphone for Subarna's schooling is definitely out of the question.

"My husband's income went down in recent months due the coronavirus pandemic. It has caused a great deal of suffering in our lives," Begum says, adding that buying a smartphone and data "in this crisis" would only worsen her family's economic woes.
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Source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4035834.
 
Coronavirus in Bangladesh: How can religion help?

Religion has played a positive role in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, by raising public awareness and providing moral support, said panelists appearing on a Bengali talk show organized by DW.

Representatives of various religions, as well as an Islamic women's rights activist, took part in a talk show organized by DW in Dhaka to discuss how religion is providing positive impulses to cope with the coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh.

Social distancing, hygiene and helping those affected are important religious duties during the crisis, the panelists said. And the health emergency affects everyone regardless of what they believe, they added.

In the first week of March this year, Bangladesh recorded its first COVID-19 infection. The country has so far registered nearly 400,000 cases, with over 5,500 related deaths. After the onset of the pandemic, for a brief period of time, religious prayers in the predominantly Muslim society were confined to people's homes.

At the beginning, people were confused and scared, the panelists noted. This made it difficult to implement health regulations at the time, said AKM Shamsuzzaman, the director of the Bangladesh's National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Center.

"When the first patient was identified on March 8, and one or two weeks later when the first patient died, everyone was touched."

Mufti Waliur Rahman Khan, one of the clerics of the top government religious body, the Islamic Foundation, echoed a similar view.

The role of Islam
"In the villages, people were so scared that they started to visit mosques more frequently than before," Khan said. "We fought this with moral education and motivation."

He showed the panel a model of a poster, which was printed with a statement from the Prophet Mohammed calling for action during pandemic times.

Khan said they have distributed such posters in mosques across the country to avoid misinformation being spread by some local Islamic preachers who have mocked pandemic-related restrictions on public gatherings or opposed the closing down of mosques.

"We control almost 300,000 mosques throughout the country. We can pass on information to them in an hour's notice," Khan noted. He said that they use WhatsApp groups to deliver instructions or messages from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Khan also said that they have formed a committee of top Islamic leaders, from various sects, to find solutions to issues of religious nature during the pandemic.

Women's special role
The pandemic has highlighted the critical role women play in public health, said Azizun Nahar, an assistant professor of law and human rights at Asia Pacific University in Dhaka. Women bear the brunt of the burden as they make up the majority in the healthcare system, she stressed.

"About 70% of the workforce in the health sector are women. That means when people were scared and confined to their homes, these women came out to fight the coronavirus," Nahar told the panel.

She also mentioned examples from Islamic history where women have worked in the battlefields as doctors or medical workers. "Women did similar jobs even 1,400 years ago," she said.

Kajal Debnath, a member of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, pointed out that most of the nurses are from Hindu, Christian or other religious minority groups. "I will say no, they were not stopped in the name of religion," he said.

"To the extent Bangladesh is thought to be conservative, or stuck in compartments of religious disciplines, our girls have shown revolution," Debnath added.

More community engagement needed
Commenting in a video clip shown in the TV show in which an Islamic initiative offers help with the burial of coronavirus victims, regardless of the religious community, the panelists reaffirmed the appeal to face the challenge together and across all religions.

The panel discussed other such initiatives and criticized those who tried to misuse religion during the pandemic.

"When you talk about religion there will sometimes be debate," Debnath underlined. "The important thing is that positive forces have prevailed over the negative ones."

It's not that there were only people who opposed these activities, in fact there were many who support such initiatives, Nahar said, adding that it's because humanity always prevails over the religious identity of people.

"These people came to help, out of their love or empathy for humanity. Ultimately the support for noble causes comes from within the society," she said.

The talk show, "religion to fight coronavirus," was moderated by the head of DW's Bengali service, Khaled Muhiuddin, and was aired on Friday by the Bangladeshi TV channel Channel I.

The project was funded by the German Foreign Office, and jointly organized by DW and the regional chapter of the international human rights organization ARTICLE 19, which campaigns for freedom of expression worldwide.
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Source: https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-coronavirus-religion-islam/a-55376612.
 
Coronavirus spreads to 1,308 new people, claims 23 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Sunday, 1,308 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 100,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Tuesday early evening in Dhaka that "23 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included "The total number of positive cases is 398,815 and death toll stands currently at 5,803."

Over the last 24-hour period, the South Asian nation carried out a number of laboratory tests for more than 11,103 suspected COVID-19 cases, health officials declared.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1101014042/Coron...new-people-claims-23-more-lives-in-Bangladesh.
 
Coronavirus infects 1,335 new people, claims 20 more lives in Bangladesh

(MENAFN) During the previous 24 hours ending on Tuesday, 1,335 new patients tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bangladesh, with the overall figure of cases tops 400,000.

Reporters cited senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana as announcing in a press release conducted on Tuesday early evening in Dhaka that "20 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

She further included "The total number of positive cases is 401,586 and death toll stands currently at 5,838."

Over the last 24-hour period, the South Asian nation carried out a number of laboratory tests for more than 12,617 suspected COVID-19 cases, health officials declared.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1101025098/Coron...-claims-20-more-lives-in-Bangladesh&source=30.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections hit 403,079

(MENAFN) The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that Bangladesh registered 1,493 new coronavirus infections and 23 more death cases on Wednesday, October 28, taking the count to 403,079 and the fatalities to 5,861.

The official statistics revealed that 12,357 samples were tested in the past 24 hours throughout Bangladesh.

The total count of recovered patients in the country reached 319,733 counting 1,610 new recoveries on Wednesday, October 28, added the DGHS.

The death rate in Bangladesh reaches 1.45 percent and the present rebound rate is 79.32 percent, according to the official statistics.


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Source: https://menafn.com/1101031300/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-hit-403079&source=30.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections reach 407,684

(MENAFN) The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that Bangladesh registered 1,320 new coronavirus infections and 18 death cases on Saturday, October 31, bringing the count to 407,684 and fatalities at 5,923.

The official statistics revealed that 11,532 samples were tested in the past 24 hours throughout Bangladesh.

The total count of recovered patients in the country reached 324,145 counting 1,442 new recoveries on Saturday, stated the DGHS.

According to the official statistics, the coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now 1.45 percent and the present recovery ratio is 79.51 percent.


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Source: https://menafn.com/1101047528/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-reach-407684&source=27.
 
Bangladesh: Coronavirus infections hit 409,252

(MENAFN) The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that Bangladesh registered 1,568 new coronavirus infections and 18 new death cases on Sunday, taking the count at 409,252 and fatalities at 5,941.

The official statistics revealed that 12,549 samples were tested in the past 24 hours throughout Bangladesh.

The total count of recovered patients in the country reached 325,940, counting 1,795 new recoveries on Sunday, stated the DGHS.

According to the official statistics, the coronavirus death rate in Bangladesh is now 1.45 percent and the present upturn rate is 79.64 percent.


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Source: https://menafn.com/1101051226/Bangladesh-Coronavirus-infections-hit-409252&source=27.
 
Bangladesh signs deal with India for 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India on Thursday to buy 30 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is seen as one of the most advanced candidates in the race against the novel coronavirus.

"Whenever the vaccine is ready, the Serum Institute will give us 30 million doses in the first phase," health minister Zahid Maleque told reporters after the deal was signed in Dhaka.

He said 5 million doses of vaccine per month would be purchased through Bangladesh's drug maker, Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

"We'll be able to vaccinate 15 million people as two shots of vaccine are required for each person 28 days apart," Maleque said.

He said Serum Institute would provide the vaccine at a price similar to that which India pays. Sources said the cost could be $4 to $5 per dose.

Bangladesh was in talks with development partners, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to secure funds for the vaccine, government officials said.

Meanwhile, there are doubts over Sinovac Biotech's late-stage trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine in Bangladesh after Dhaka refused to meet the Chinese company's demand for co-funding.

Experts fear Bangladesh might face another surge in infections during the winter, having so far confirmed 416,006 cases, including 6,021 deaths.

The Serum Institute, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, has partnered with AstraZeneca, the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance to produce more than a billion doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for global supply.

It is holding trials for three potential coronavirus vaccines, including one licensed to AstraZeneca by Oxford University.

AstraZeneca said on Thursday that it was holding back deliveries while it awaits the data from late-stage clinical trials in order to maximise the shelf-life of supplies.

The drugmaker has signed several supply and manufacturing deals with companies and governments around the world, while data in October showed the vaccine produces an immune response in both old and young adults.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Hugh Lawson)
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Source: https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/n...-30-million-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine-517097/.
 
Bangladesh's inflation rises to 6.44pc in October, highest in 7 years

(MENAFN - NewsIn.Asia) Dhaka, November 6 (The New Nation) - Bangladesh's point-to-point general inflation rate has increased to 6.44 per cent in October, the highest in seven years, amid the coronavirus (COvid-19) pandemic.

The country had the previous highest inflation of 6.78 per cent by the end of 2012-13 fiscal year, reports bdnews24.com.

A higher rise in rural inflation rate compared with the urban one and the increase in food inflation to 7.34 per cent escalated general inflation last month, according to data published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

In rural areas, inflation was 6.67 per cent while the rate was 6.3 per cent in urban areas.

In September, general inflation was 5.97 per cent and food inflation 6.5 per cent.

"It was bound to happen because the prices of all the commodities in the market have gone up," said analyst Ahsan H Mansur.

He identified government efforts to ensure easy flow of cash amid the pandemic as a reason behind the rise in inflation.

Even Bangladesh Bank warned of the risks associated with the release of the credits from the coronavirus stimulus package that aims to help the private industries soften the blow of the pandemic crisis in order to prevent job cuts.

The central bank said in a report by the end of September that a range of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies are likely to boost economic activities in full swing in the near future.

"Extraordinarily easy financing conditions may pose upside risks for price stability in the coming quarters," the report added.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1101085080/Bangladeshs-inflation-rises-to-644pc-in-October-highest-in-7-years.
 
B'desh reports 1,733 fresh Covid cases

Dhaka, Nov 11 (IANS) Bangladesh on Wednesday reported 1,733 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the country's tally to 425,353, health officials said.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, another 1,715 patients have recovered from the disease at home and in hospital care, bringing the total to 343,131, bdnews24 reported.

Globally, over 51.50 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 1.27 million have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
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Source: https://menafn.com/1101108696/Bdesh-reports-1733-fresh-Covid-cases&source=30.
 
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Coronavirus: Bangladesh extends school shutdown over second Covid-19 wave

The government closed schools and educational institutions on March 17.

Bangladesh is extending its closure of schools and educational institutions which were last open in March until December 19 amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections during the winter, the education ministry said on Thursday.

Experts say the South Asian country, with patchy healthcare facilities, could face another surge in infections, having so far confirmed 427,198 cases and 6,140 deaths from Covid-19.

The government closed schools and educational institutions on March 17. It has extended the closure several times, most recently until November 15.

"The decision has been taken considering the second wave... We can't play with the lives of our children," said a senior official of the education ministry, who declined to be named.

The government however, has lifted most other restrictions.

Daily infections have shown a rising trend this month, with 1,845 new cases and 13 deaths reported on Thursday.

"The coronavirus situation could worsen further in the winter when viral and bacterial diseases increase," said virologist Nazrul Islam, a member of the national technical advisory committee to tackle Covid-19.

"People are eager for the vaccine but nobody is caring about the health rules like wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing," Islam said.

The government is broadcasting lessons on television for school students, and universities are conducting online classes. Most children in Bangladesh do not have access to the internet.

Rights groups fear many are at risk from not returning to school and say many children have been forced to work to help their families and some girls have been forced into marriage due to their parents losing income.

"We fear the dropout rates could be 40 per cent or even more," said Rasheda K. Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education.

"My daughter is in 8th grade but I will never be able to send her back to school," said garment worker Maksuda Begum, who was laid off from her job in April, adding that her family had been surviving on charity.

"I dreamed of a better life for my daughter but my dream will remain a dream," she said, fighting back tears.
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Source: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/corona...nds-school-shutdown-over-second-covid-19-wave.
 
Bangladesh has extended its closure of schools and educational institutions, which were last open in March, until December 19 amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections during the coming Bangladeshi winter, the education ministry said on Thursday.

Experts said the South Asian country, with patchy healthcare facilities, could face another surge in infections, having so far confirmed 427,198 cases and 6,140 deaths from COVID-19.
 
Bangladesh to get 68M doses of virus vaccine from Gavi

20% of Bangladeshis to avail vaccine from Gavi in phases, says health official

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh will get 68 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, a public-private global health partnership, a South Asian country’s Health Ministry official said on Wednesday.

“It will cover some 20% of the population of Bangladesh in phases,” said Dr Md Shamsul Haque, a director at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Gavi will charge in a co-finance method with Bangladesh, and each shot of vaccine will cost $1.62 to $2, the DGHS official added.

“If we want, we can have more doses of vaccine from Gavi […] But the cost for the additional doses has not been determined yet, Haque told Anadolu Agency.

Eligible candidates in the country will get two doses of the total 68 million doses.

On Nov. 5, Bangladesh inked an agreement to get 30 million doses of the Oxford vaccine from India's Serum Institute once it gets available with comparatively higher cost, $5.

Bangladesh has so far confirmed to give two doses of vaccines to some 45 million people out of some 165 million population.

In order to have smooth financing, the government has already sent letters to donor agencies seeking loan assistance to buy the virus vaccine.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/bangladesh-to-get-68m-doses-of-virus-vaccine-from-gavi/2055847.
 
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