Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

With the Covid-19 situation deteriorating in India, experts in Bangladesh have suggested closing the borders with the neighbouring country to contain the spread of a new and potentially more transmissible variant of the virus.

Despite the uncertainty over getting Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from India, the government is adamant on giving people their first shot of the Covid vaccine while administering the second shot to those who received their first jab earlier.

The Russian government has offered Bangladesh to either buy around 2.5 crore doses of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine or produce the shots locally with its assistance.

With the disruption in the supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII), the government has formed a five-member committee to find alternative sources of Covid vaccines.

Dhaka has witnessed a rise in temperature of almost 3 degrees Celsius in the last 20 years while the world is fighting to contain the increase in global temperature to under 1.5 degrees.

A staggering 44 percent Covid-19 patients had to be hospitalised between late January and mid-April, according to data of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) released yesterday.

Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm has offered 60 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh when there has been a surge in daily infection rates and deaths for days, said officials.

As the country crossed a grim milestone of 100 daily Covid-19 deaths yesterday, health experts and officials have pointed at coronavirus patients’ negligence in taking their symptoms seriously and the delay in seeking medical care on time as reasons behind the sharp rise in fatalities.

Uncertainty looms large over the smooth vaccine campaign as the government is yet to get any specific date from Serum Institute of India about receiving the pending consignment of AstraZeneca doses.

At least 17 thanas in the capital are at high risk of Covid-19 transmission, says government data.

More young adults getting infected with coronavirus has been a worrying sign in recent weeks, experts said.

The dominance of the South African variant of coronavirus in Dhaka is a reason for concern, but experts said mass inoculation should go on although early studies suggested that the available vaccines are less effective against the variant.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) yesterday wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office, urging it to toughen restrictions in order to curb the transmission of Covid-19.

Although 10 months have passed since the government’s announcement of daily quarantine allowance, no doctor, nurse or healthcare frontliners in the war against Covid-19 received the money.

The government starts administering the second shot of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine today amid fast-depleting stocks and a strained supply chain.

The recent spike in Covid-19 infections has turned more than half the country’s 64 districts into high-risk zones.

The government has decided to double the number of Intensive Care Unit beds in Dhaka to accommodate the surge of Covid-19 patients.

Amid uncertainty over receiving the next consignment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from Serum Institute of India (SII), the government has moved to procure vaccines from other inventors.

The government has requested AstraZeneca to authorise production of its Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.

Ambassadors and high commissioners of nine diplomatic missions in Bangladesh are going to Bhasan Char today to see the facilities offered for Rohingyas at first hand.