Tag Archives: coronavirus

MNA Business Desk: The US Federal Reserve and its global counterparts moved aggressively with sweeping emergency rate cuts and offers of cheap dollars in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic that has roiled markets and paralysed large parts of the world economy. The coordinated response from the Fed to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) were reminiscent of the steps taken just over a decade ago in the wake of the financial crisis. The moves came amid a rout in stocks and bond markets as investor anxiety deepened over the difficulty of tackling a ...

MNA National Desk: Three more persons — two children aged under 10 and one woman — were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the country Sunday. With the latest, the number of coronavirus cases in the country stands at eight; three of them have already recovered. Two people, who had recently returned from Italy and Germany, were detected as COVID-19 cases Saturday. The new three cases that were detected Sunday are the family members of one of those two cases detected a day ago. Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) director Professor Dr Meerzady Sabrina Flora on Monday briefed the ...

MNA International Desk: The three states bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe have all recorded their highest death tolls for a single day. Italy saw 368 deaths bring its total to 1,809, Spain recorded 97 more deaths for a total of 288, and France reported 29 deaths, giving a total of 120. The UK also saw a single-day record, with 14 new deaths and a total of 35, according to a BBC report Monday. Governments across Europe have responded by curbing the movements of citizens and tightening borders. Germany is to impose controls on its borders with ...

MNA Career & Education Desk: Government is temporarily shutting down all educational institutions across the country from March 17 amid a global coronavirus outbreak. “The official order will be published on Monday afternoon,” Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury said, reports UNB. The death toll from coronavirus or COVID-19 reached 6,518 globally as of Monday. It has so far infected 169,719 people around the world, according to worldometer. COVID-19 is affecting 157 countries and territories around the world and one international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harboured in Yokohama, Japan). The World Health Organization on March 11 declared the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina welcomed her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s proposal on strategies to battle coronavirus in SAARC region and said will look forward to a constructive dialogue with other heads of states of the region as well. “I hope this conference will show a new path to all of us in tackling the coronavirus,” added Sheikh Hasina. She also said the health ministers and secretaries can also have a similar conference to discuss the technicalities of the response to the coronavirus. Hasina made the remarks at a video conference with SAARC member countries to chalk out ...

MNA National Desk: Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday said the government is mulling over closing the educational institutions in view of the outbreak of coronavirus. “Closing the schools and colleges is being discussed at the high level of the government. We are intensively monitoring the situation. We will take necessary steps in the right time,” he said. Quader, also the Awami League (AL) general secretary, came up with the statements at a press conference after an AL secretariat meeting on the celebration of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at ...

MNA International Desk: Coronavirus cases in Spain have risen by 1,500 to more than 5,700, public health officials say, reports The BBC. Spain is the worst affected country in Europe after Italy, which has more than 15,000 cases. The news comes as the Spanish government meets to declare a national state of emergency, for only the second time in its recent history. On Friday the World Health Organization (WHO) said Europe was now the “epicentre” of the pandemic. Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to use aggressive measures, community mobilisation and social distancing to save lives. Several European ...

MNA Business Desk: With fears of coronavirus dominating market sentiment, stocks tumbled further on Sunday amid incessant selling by investors to escape further losses. Within 15 minutes, DSEX slumped more than 200 points with dipping below 4,000-mark on the news of imposing travel bans on different countries and Bangladesh suspending on-arrival visas on European nations for two weeks. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settle at 3,969, shedding 160.64 points or 3.88 per cent over the previous day. DSEX sank the below 4,000-mark for the first time in five years ...

MNA National Desk: Nine people are currently in isolation at different hospitals after showing symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection with four others in institutional quarantine, according to the government’s disease control agency. Among the three patients diagnosed with the infection in the country, two are free of the virus, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) said. IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora disclosed the latest developments on the coronavirus situation at a media briefing on Saturday, as per a report on bdnews24.com. Bangladesh reported its first cases of the coronavirus on March 8 after two men and a ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Countries around the world on Saturday continued to close borders, impose strict entry and quarantine requirements and restrict large gatherings in efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, reports Reuters. Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said it will close all its retail stores worldwide, outside Greater China, until March 27. Apple reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China on Friday as the spread of the virus on mainland China slowed dramatically. Countries have shuttered museums, tourist attractions and sporting events to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission, with more than 138,000 people worldwide infected and ...

MNA International Desk: Greece reported its first fatality from a coronavirus infection on Thursday, a 66-year-old man who had returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt at the end of February. The deceased had underlying health issues, the health ministry said in a statement. There were 99 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Greece by late Wednesday, reports Reuters. Separately, passengers on board a ferry boat were quarantined as a precaution after a crew member said he felt unwell, a health ministry spokesman said. The crew member disembarked for further health checks. The Athens News Agency reported there were ...

MNA National Desk: The Tripura government has decided to shut down all the border haats (markets) with Bangladesh as part of the precautionary measures against novel coronavirus, reports The Telegraph, reports bdnews24.com. A memorandum has been issued from the health and family welfare department on Wednesday saying that mass gatherings in any form may be avoided or possibly be postponed till the outbreak of the disease is contained. “All citizens are requested to restrict mass gatherings to avoid severe acute respiratory illness or SAR case and influenza-like illness, including Covid-19. In case a gathering cannot be avoided, the organiser should ...

MNA Business Desk: Bangladesh’s import orders dropped by more than 12 per cent or nearly US$663 million in January last due to supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China. Opening of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as import orders, came down to $4.63 billion in January from $5.29 billion a month ago, according to the central bank’s latest data. “The country’s overall imports are maintaining a falling trend in the recent months mainly due to global economic slowdown and coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan of China,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The government has allocated Tk 500 million for health services to prevent the spread of coronavirus after the detection of the first cases in Bangladesh. The finance ministry informed the Directorate General of Health Services about the allocation on Wednesday in response to the directorate’s request for Tk 1 billion. The money from the fund set aside for unexpected expenditure management in the revised budget of 2019-20 will be used to launch or extend coronavirus-related health services. Most of the fund, over Tk 455 million, is for purchase of equipment. The rest will be used to raise ...

MNA National Desk: In the wake of detection of the first coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged the people of the country not to panic and avoid any mass gathering. Sheikh Hasina made the call while talking about coronavirus at the weekly Cabinet meeting held at her office with the PM in the chair, reports UNB. “The Prime Minister requested you (people) not to get panicked…Since it’s a contagious virus, her directive is to avoid any huge mass gathering as much as possible,” said Health Services Division Secretary Md Ashadul Islam at a press briefing ...

MNA Business Desk: The outbreak and spread of Coronavirus (Covid19) will negatively affect the global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the current and next years. The rate of decline may be minimum 5.0 per cent to maximum 15.0 per cent in 2020, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The UN body unveiled its special issue on its Investment Trends Monitor on Monday in Geneva focusing the impact of coronavirus outbreak on global FDI. “With scenarios of the spread of the epidemic ranging from short-term stabilisation to continuation throughout the year, the downward pressure ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The Biman Bangladesh Airlines has reduced its international flight frequency to more than 50 per cent due to passenger’s scarcity as well as ban on flight operation in some destinations for global outbreak of novel coronavirus. “We have decided to reduce our total weekly flight (to and from) to 68 from 142 in our 10 international destinations due to mainly passenger’s scarcity amid the outbreak of coronavirus,” Biman’s managing director and CEO Mokabbir Hossain told newsmen on Monday in the capital. The national flag carrier operates international flights to Kuala Lumpur, Kathmandu, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangkok, Singapore, ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged the people of the country not to be worried regarding coronavirus as Bangladesh has enough capability to face this disease. “Inshallah, we have enough capability (to tackle coronavirus) and we’ll do that. There’s nothing to be worried,” she said while inaugurating the function of the International Women’s Day at Osmani Memorial Auditorium. She said the government is monitoring the situation round the clock and will take immediate appropriate steps if any problem arises in any place. “All have to remain neat and clean and follow the instructions of the Health ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has confirmed three coronavirus cases for the first time in Bangladesh. IEDCR Director Professor Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora gave the information at a press briefing on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com. “Two men and a woman, aged between 20 and 35 years, have tested positive for the virus and they have been kept in quarantine,” the IEDCR director said. “Their condition is stable now,” she added. Among the three infected people, two returned from Italy recently, according to the government’s disease control agency. Samples from four people who came in ...

MNA International Desk: Two more people succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Washington state, officials said on Saturday (local time), bringing the nationwide toll to 19, while the number of confirmed cases in New York rose to 89 and a cruise ship with infected passengers remained stranded outside San Francisco. More than half of all US states have reported cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. As the outbreak takes root, daily life has become increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences cancelled and universities telling students to stay home ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Twenty-one people aboard a cruise ship that was barred from docking in San Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus, US officials said on Friday, adding to the more than 100,000 cases of the fast-spreading illness across the world. Vice president Mike Pence, recently appointed as the US government’s point man on the outbreak, said the cruise ship Grand Princess will be brought to an unspecified non-commercial port where all 2,400 some passengers and 1,100 crew members will now be tested. “Those that need to be quarantined, will be quarantined. Those that require additional medical attention will receive ...

MNA International Desk: Kuwait suspended all flights to and from Bangladesh and other six countries for a week with an immediate effect from March 06 (Friday). The six other countries from where the expatriates will not be allowed to go to Kuwait are India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Philippines, Egypt and Syria. Issuing a circular on Friday, Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) said the expatriates with valid residency permits or previous entry visas as well as those from other airports who stayed in the above-mentioned countries for the past two weeks are prohibited from entering. But the citizens ...

MNA Editorial Desk: A separate hospital will be built in the country to control coronavirus outbreak if the number of patients rises at any place, informed the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. “Isolation unit has been opened at the sadar hospitals in all districts for proving treatment to coronavrus patients. But, if the number of case rises anywhere, a separate hospital will be built there,” said IEDCR director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora at a press briefing on Thursday. Informing that the situation in China is improving, she said the disease is spreading to other countries outside China. “Of ...

MNA International Desk: Italy closed all schools and universities and took other emergency measures on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Europe’s worst-hit country as the death toll and number of cases jumped. The total number of dead in Italy rose to 107 after 28 people died of the highly contagious virus over the past 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said. Education Minister Lucia Azzolina said schools and universities all over the country would be closed from Thursday until at least March 15. Only those in the northern regions most heavily affected by the ...

MNA Business Desk: Asia’s factories took a heavy hit in February from the coronavirus outbreak with activity in China shrinking at a record pace, business surveys showed on Monday, adding to fears the crisis risks triggering a global recession. China’s factory activity suffered the sharpest contraction on record in February, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed, underlining the crippling effects of tough travel curbs and public health measures taken to contain the outbreak. That followed the Chinese government’s similarly dire PMI release on the weekend, which also showed a record pace of decline. The slump in the world’s ...

MNA International Desk: Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended entry to the Kingdom for the purpose of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque. It also suspended the entry of tourist visa holders from countries where the new coronavirus is spreading dangerously, Saudi Gazette reported citing a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Millions of pilgrims every year visits Mekkah and Medina, two Islamic historic city for Hajj and Umrah. But the risk of coronavirus spread has reached new heights amid the current scenario all around the world. The foreign ministry said that the health authorities in Saudi Arabia ...

MNA Business Desk: The country’s readymade garment (RMG) sector is facing some problems in supply chain due to coronavirus outbreak, but there is no negative impact on the export of RMG products. Top government officials came up with the statement at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the city recently, reports BSS on Wednesday. Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus presided over the meeting on ‘Prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and fixing measures to face the impact of Coronavirus on Bangladesh’s Economy’. Finance Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, Senior Secretary of the Banking and Financial Institutions ...