Shaheen Mollah

Something strange is happening in the capital’s slums -- Covid-19 cases are hard to come by.

Though it is a week away from Eid-ul-Azha, trading of sacrificial animals has only begun in the city’s sole permanent cattle market in Gabtoli.

Amanullah Ershad used to make enough to keep his two sons in primary school and pay the rent for his small flat in the capital’s Banasree.

Monirul Alam, a resident of Gendaria, has been suffering from high blood pressure for the last two years.

With Eid-ul-Azha just a month away, cattle farmers are in fear of incurring huge losses during the festival, as they are sensing a sharp drop in the demand for sacrificial animals due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Every day, Rubel Hossain, a staffer at Bangladesh Water Development Board, would get ready and keep on waiting for a bus to reach his Motijheel office from his Keraniganj residence. But the pandemic has changed his lifestyle, maybe for the better, as he started commuting on his bicycle for the last few weeks.

The continuous spread of Covid-19 and the consequent shutdown have made jobs rare and life harder for many daily wage earners of the capital.

Jannatul Ferdous was admitted to Max Hospital in Chattogram with breathing problems early last month.

Around 12 hours after a launch capsized in the Buriganga river on Monday, authorities started to rescue the vessel when a man swam out alive, raising more questions than could be answered.

A novice was allegedly at the helm moving the Moyur-2 astern when the vessel slammed into a smaller launch, causing it to sink and drown at least 32 people in the Buriganga at the capital's Shyambazar yesterday.

Three and a half years ago, life suddenly took a turn for Babu Hossain when a fire gutted his mobile phone repair shop at Bou Bazar in the capital’s Karail slum.

The government has decided to use Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in the capital’s Chankharpul for treatment of coronavirus patients.

In the absence of people dedicated to prevent and control infections at hospitals, healthcare-associated infections are rising across the country, affecting the general populace and healthcare professionals alike.

His workplace and home are 150 yards apart, a distance that takes no more than five minutes to cover.

His workplace and home are 150 yards apart, a distance that takes no more than five minutes to cover.

Dhaka Medical College Hospital is struggling with inadequate ICU facility as a large number of critical Covid-19 patients are thronging the country’s largest public hospital.

On April 14, a wooden vessel crammed with Rohingyas reached the Teknaf jetty. Those Rohingyas, all of whom were residents of different refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, tried to go to Malaysia in search of livelihood.

Almas Bepari, a canteen staff of Bangladesh Bank was living in the capital’s Chittagong road for the past decade, until the pandemic forced his family to shift to Cumilla earlier this month.

Faruk Mia came to Dhaka on Saturday, all the way from Narsingdi, to buy an oxygen cylinder for his 65-year-old ailing father as it could not be managed in his district.

With no work for two months now, domestic help Bibi Rupban has been struggling to feed her five children three meals a day. Her husband, a rickshaw-puller, can hardly scrounge up enough for the family to live on.