Tag Archives: coronavirus

MNA National Desk: Bangladesh has registered 41 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus infection in a daily count, taking the death toll to 3,822. The tally of infections surged to 287,959 after 2,868 people tested positive for COVID-19 until 8 am Thursday, reports bdnews24.com citing a health directorate’s statement. Another 3,253 patients recovered from the disease through treatment at home and in hospital care in the same period, bringing the total to 168,991. The official figures put the recovery rate at 58.69 per cent, while the mortality rate stands at 1.33 per cent following the latest deaths of 32 men ...

MNA International Desk: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday urged people not to fear catching the novel coronavirus from food, after Chinese testers found traces on food and food packaging. The virus was found Tuesday in the Chinese city of Shenzhen during a routine check on samples of frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil, city authorities said. The authorities said they immediately screened people who had been in contact with the contaminated products, plus their relatives, and all the tests came back negative. In China’s eastern Anhui province, the mayor of Wuhu announced Thursday that the virus had been ...

MNA National Desk: Thirty-nine more people died from coronavirus (Covid-19) in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours till Monday, according to the statistics of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). With this, the death toll due to the deadly virus infection reached at 3,438, Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Nasima Sultana said. Besides, 2,907 people tested positive for the virus during the same period, raising the number of such cases in the country to 2,60,507, she added. However, some 2067patents have recovered from the disease bringing the total figure to 148,370. Prof Dr Nasima ...

MNA Culture & Entertainment Desk: Sanayee Mahbob was admitted to the ICU on Friday afternoon as her condition worsened due to coronavirus. She was diagnosed with the deadly virus on Thursday and undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chattogram Shahina Afroz Mishti, Sanayee’s elder sister-in-law, confirmed the information, saying, “Sanayee was tested coronavirus positive. She was later admitted to the hospital as her condition deteriorated. But this morning, when her condition started getting worse, she was taken to ICU.” Earlier, Sanayee herself confirmed the news of being infected with coronavirus on Thursday. “I had corona symptoms two weeks ago. ...

MNA National Desk: Bangladesh today recorded 30 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths and 1,356 fresh cases overnight. The recovery count rose to 137,905 after another 1066 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, a top health official said. “Thirty more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 3,184,” Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing at DGHS in the city this afternoon. She said the tally of infections has surged to 242,102 as 1,356 new cases were confirmed in ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has extended her greetings to the people of the country on the auspicious occasion of the Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of the Muslims, to be celebrated on Saturday. “The Prime Minister in an audio message greeted people on the Eid-uL-Azha and it (the message) will be sent soon to the mobile users through their cell phones,” said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim on Wednesday. In the message of greetings, the premier said, “AssaIamualaikum, I am Sheikh Hasina. The holy Eid-ul-Azha once again comes to us after a year… I am extending ...

MNA Business Report: The import of fruits, particularly vitamin-C enriched ones such as orange, kinnow and apple recommended by health experts to ward off the coronavirus, has increased amid the pandemic. Although the harvest season is underway for local fruits such as mango, jackfruit and lychee, widely available in the markets, there is also growing demand for kinnow, apple, orange and grapes. Sales of fruits in retail markets across the country have shot up too. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, citrus fruits are in great demand not only in Bangladesh but also around the world as people tend to consume ...

MNA International Desk: Coronavirus has revealed the “fragile skeleton” of societies and could push 100 million people into extreme poverty, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday. Speaking on the 102nd birthday anniversary of the late Nelson Mandela – South Africa’s first black president – Guterres said coronavirus was “shining a spotlight” on global injustice. “We have been brought to our knees – by a microscopic virus. The pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world.” “Entire regions that were making progress on eradicating poverty and narrowing inequality have been set back years, in a matter of months,” ...

MNA National Desk: Italy has reduced the ban on arrivals from Bangladesh for three months amid the coronavirus pandemic. Bangladeshis will now be able to enter the European country from August 1. After Italy notified the airlines about the new decision, the foreign ministry said the ban will end on July 31. The ministry also rejected media reports that Bangladeshis travelled to Italy with fake COVID-19 test reports as incorrect. The European Union member state has not yet imposed a rule that would require Bangladeshis to get coronavirus-negative test reports for entry. Some of the 1,600 Bangladeshis who travelled to ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Although 4,998 people tested positive for coronavirus from March 8 to April 25, only 113 of them or 2.26 per cent, recovered during the period, showing one of the lowest recovery rates in the world. Health experts have attributed this to a lengthy recovery period of the disease, lower follow-up tests, weakened immune system of elderly and other people with underlying health conditions and mismanagement in treatment. Talking to UNB, IEDCR Director Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Kanak Kanti Barua and Dhaka Medical College Prof Khan Abul Kalam Azad said ...

MNA Editorial Desk: As both the death toll and infections from coronavirus continue to surge in Bangladesh, the government is likely to extend the ongoing general holidays in a bid to tackle the worsening situation. There might be official announcement in this regard within a couple of days, said State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain. “Of Course. Time has not come yet to resume offices. Coronavirus is passing through its final stage,” he told UNB when asked whether the holidays will be extended. “However, no instruction has yet been received about extending the holidays. Directives might come by tomorrow ...

MNA Business Desk: The Bangladesh economy is losing Tk 33 billion every day from its service and agriculture sectors during the nationwide shutdown over the coronavirus outbreak, a new study says. Researchers from Dhaka University’s Institute of Health Economics released the finding after analysing the state of national economy from March 26 to April 25 in a study on the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. The country incurred losses totalling an estimated Tk 1 trillion in March, lead researcher Prof Syed Abdul Hamid said on Tuesday, reports bdnews24.com. The researchers attempted to calculate the temporary or current losses ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Coronavirus has spread throughout the world within a very short time. It has come out as a strike on humanity. The whole world is fighting this deadly pandemic. But it is hard to say, at which stage we are standing right now. Till now more than 2.3 million people got affected while over 0.16 million lost their lives worldwide. The scenario in Bangladesh is just getting worse day by day as till now 101 lives were lost while 2,948 became victims of this pandemic. Not only on human lives but also on every aspect of our society, ...

MNA National Desk: Ten more people died of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bangladesh in the 24 hours to 8:00am on Monday, raising the tally to 101. Meanwhile, 492 others were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the same period, taking the number of such cases in the country to 2948, Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Nasima Sultana said. Dr Nasima said that among the ten victims, eight are male and the two are female. Of them, two were between 41 to 50 age group, four were between 51 to 60 and four awere above 60 ...

MNA Lifestyle Desk: The Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), a pro-BNP forum, on Monday alleged that over 200 physicians in the country were infected with coronavirus while providing healthcare services to such patients. In a statement on Monday, it said doctors in the country have relentlessly been fighting against coronavirus as the frontline worriers without proper personal protection, reports UNB. “Over 200 doctors have already been infected with the virus while treating patients,” the association said. Besides, DAB said, many physicians have been kept in isolation and quarantine. DAB praised the Prime Minister’s incentive package for the doctors saying it ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The whole of Bangladesh is at risk of coronavirus infection now that COVID-19 patients have been detected in 43 of the 64 districts, the Directorate General of Health Services has said. The authorities put 28 districts on lockdown until Thursday evening as the daily rate of known infections and the death toll continued to jump. The whole of Bangladesh is at risk of coronavirus infection now that COVID-19 patients have been detected in 43 of the 64 districts, the Directorate General of Health Services has said. Abul Kalam Azad, director general of health services, made the announcement ...

MNA Business Desk: President of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Thursday said they will try to open the factories on April 26 after considering the corona situation. Talking to The Financial Express on Thursday, Rubana Huq said they will also consult with International Labour Organization (ILO), World Health Organization (WHO) and concerned authorities before doing that. On Thursday, 10 people died of coronavirus in Bangladesh, raising the death toll to the highest number in a single day as of now, and 342 were tested positive. The BGMEA president also mentioned that they will try to take the ...

MNA National Desk: The government has allocated Tk 90 billion to subsidize farmers aiming to increase agricultural production amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “To meet the country’s food demand, different initiatives, including stimulus packages, have been taken and Tk 90 billion bas been allocated for boosting crop production amid the coronavirus outbreak,” Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdul Razzaque told a press briefing at the secretariat in Dhaka on Thursday. He said the farmer-friendly government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has allocated Tk 90 billion to give subsidy to the growers. Besides, the agriculture minister said the government has allocated ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Coronavirus has been such an entity which may have touched all human lives around the world in some way or another. The death toll and infected numbers are going up every minute as more than 1.8 million people are infected and more than 1.13 lac people died from this fierce coronavirus worldwide. In Bangladesh also 39 people died from the 803 infected in total. With hundreds of millions of people now isolating themselves around the world, the novel coronavirus pandemic has become a truly global event. We may find ourselves even into a shift of global power. ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for a collective effort to fight the COVID-19 epidemic in her address to the nation on the eve of the Bengali New Year amid the shutdown imposed by the government to limit the spread of the coronavirus. “Darkness is engulfing our world because of the coronavirus. We shall overcome this and journey through to a new sunlit day,” Hasina said, calling for a collective resolve to fight the epidemic, reports bdnews24.com. The prime minister’s televised speech came on Monday amid a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. Five more patients died ...

MNA Business Desk: Millions of rural people, who bank on small loans for financing family ventures and small businesses, cannot borrow money even to meet their emergency needs during the Covid-19 lockdown, stakeholders lamented. The global pandemic that broke out in Bangladesh in early March has led to suspension of operations of the microfinance institutions (MFIs), which sector leaders claim, are not in a position to pay salaries of their staff members. Graduated from the state of supporting basic needs to funding farm and non-farm activities and micro enterprises, microcredit, experts said, still has a huge demand in the country, ...

MNA International Desk: United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called on the religious leaders of all faiths to join forces to work for peace around the world and focus on the common battle to defeat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). He came up with the call in a “special message” at a time on the spiritual calendar when Christians are celebrating Easter, Jews are marking Passover and Muslims will soon begin the holy month of Ramadan. Extending his warmest wishes to all those observing these important moments, he said, “We have always known these occasions to be moments of community.” ...

MNA National Desk: The government has instructed all citizens of the country not to come out of home after 6:00pm and if anyone defies this will be brought under legal action. “Moving from one area to other is also restricted strictly,” said a notification issued by the public administration ministry on Friday, reports UNB. The notification also said the government extended the general holidays until April 25. “The government extended the holidays from April 15 to April 23, while April 24 and 25 are the weekend,” said Public Administration Secretary Shaikh Yusuf Harun. The decision was taken with an aim ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Low-income people of the country are suffering great losses in their earnings since the enforcement of social distancing and lockdowns to fight the novel coronavirus. Extreme poverty has risen 60 percentage points than before, while 14 per cent people do not have any food at home. On the other hand, 36 per cent people do not have any clear idea about the measures to be taken to prevent COVID-19. Most of them do not have any idea about the message that one should not directly go to any health facility with the symptoms of infection (fever, cough and breathing ...

MNA Business Desk: The country’s business leaders underscored the need for forming a task force to implement different measures the government had taken to overcome the losses caused by COVID-19 outbreak. They said the government has already taken some medium to long-term measures to carry on the economic activities during and after the pandemic, according to a statement by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka, or MCCI. A task force is required to execute all the initiatives properly and swiftly, the statement said. Keeping its trust in different initiatives taken by the government, the chamber expressed its concern ...

MNA International Desk: Images have emerged of coffins being buried in a mass grave in New York City, as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise. Workers in hazmat outfits were seen using a ladder to descend into a huge pit where the coffins were stacked, reports BBC. The location is Hart Island, used for New Yorkers with no next of kin or who could not afford a funeral. New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country, according to latest figures. The state’s confirmed caseload of Covid-19 jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Just as we speak, the recent global crisis of COVID-19 virus outbreak has claimed over 70,000 lives while over 1.4 million are infected worldwide. With terrific modernization and development of technology such as artificial intelligence, we could not yet find out a solid tool to fight against this deadly nature-caused virus and has to only depend on symptomatic treatment till now. Moreover, an incredible economic depression seems to be arriving immediately with next few weeks. Till now 12 people died and 123 were infected in Bangladesh also and it is expected to dangerously increase within the next ...