The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 has recommended Covid-19 vaccine booster dose for frontline workers and those aged 60 and above, who have received the second jab at least six months ago.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday warned of a looming "tidal wave" of Omicron, and brought forward a target to give over-18s a booster jab by one month to the end of December.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday and was receiving treatment for mild symptoms, the presidency said in a statement.

The Omicron coronavirus variant is more transmissible than the Delta strain and reduces vaccine efficacy but causes less severe symptoms according to early data, the World Health Organization said Sunday.

More than half a billion people globally were pushed into extreme poverty last year as they paid for health costs out of their own pockets during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization and the World Bank said yesterday.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday said that there was no reason to be worried about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as there was no evident transmission from the two infected cricketers in the country.

Chest Disease Clinic and Hospital (CDCH) in Faridpur is plagued with manpower crisis and necessary equipment shortage for a long time, much to the suffering of the patients.

A Khulna court sent health worker Prakash Kumar Das to jail yesterday in a case filed for embezzling Tk 2.58 crore from corona sample test fees of foreigners at Khulna 250-bed General Hospital (Sadar).

At least 31 dengue patients were hospitalised in the last 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, according to the DGHS. The total number of dengue cases rose to 27,959. Of the total infected, 4,565 are from outside Dhaka. According to the DGHS, 101 people have died of dengue infection in the country this year.

Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have donated over 1.2 million Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh under the global Covax facility.

Six people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8:00 am today, according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Thirty-one dengue patients were hospitalised in 24 hours till 8:00 am today, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

There is no evidence that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been transmitted to others from the two infected cricketers of Bangladesh National Team, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today.

As the omicron variant sweeps through South Africa, Dr Unben Pillay is seeing dozens of sick patients a day. Yet he hasn’t had to send anyone to the hospital.

Evercare Hospital Dhaka, the first JCI-accredited hospital in Bangladesh, announced at a press meet that they have successfully completed their 50th bone marrow transplant (BMT). They now have a record of conducting the highest number of allogeneic BMTs in the country.

People living with HIV (PWH) are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and electrophysiological changes that may lead to sudden cardiac death (SCD). SCD was twice as common in PWH in a recent research published in New England Journal of Medicine; however, one in three fatalities was attributed to overdose.

The variant of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529, termed Omicron, was labelled a variant of concern by World Health Organisation (WHO) on November 26, 2021. The number of people testing positive has risen in areas of South Africa affected by this variant. Scientists in and outside of South Africa are carrying out several research projects to comprehend Omicron better.

Recently government and private sector donors have pledged more than US$27 billion at the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit to address the global malnutrition and hunger crisis. Represented by five Heads of State and Government, 45 countries with high burdens of malnutrition and a dozen donors delivered renewed policy and financial commitments to end malnutrition. These commitments demonstrate country leadership and prioritisation of nutrition at a crucial time, as fiscal resources are constrained, and malnutrition rates are on the rise due to the continuing global COVID-19 pandemic.

Two players of Bangladesh women’s national cricket team, who tested positive for Covid-19 last week, were infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A national consultative meeting on “Community Paramedics: A Skilled Healthcare Workforce in Rural Bangladesh” was organised by Achieving Sustainability Towards Healthcare Access (ASTHA), a project of Swisscontact Bangladesh, in Dhaka recently.