Barishal Metropolitan Police (BMP) yesterday launched a service to provide free oxygen to Covid-19 patients, amid a surge of the infections in the city, much like the country.

The foreign missions of US, UK and India in Bangladesh have suspended visa-related activities during the lockdown from April 14 to 21.

Even those who need treatment are wary of visiting the Covid-19 unit of Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital (SBMCH) at Barishal, citing a major lack of resources and a dirty environment.

The 50th martyrdom anniversary of five members of the family of Saidur Rahman, Founder (President) of Projonmo ’71 will be observed tomorrow, said a press release.

Bangladesh hopes Malaysia would play an instrumental role to move the issue of Rohingya refugees forward within Asean and help achieve a durable solution to the crisis.

The South Asian governments must ensure that vulnerable groups are not excluded from access to Covid-19 vaccines, said Amnesty International yesterday, calling on the international community to enable vaccine production at the national-level to address supply shortage across the region.

The number of children in the labour market may increase due to the income reduction of people in the current Covid-19 pandemic, said lawmaker Md Mujibul Haque, who is also the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee of the Ministry of Labour and Employment yesterday.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) will operate special parcel trains to facilitate farmers to transport their farm products during the weeklong strict restrictions starting today.

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has decided to keep the normal judicial functions of courts closed in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from today (April 14) to April 21 in line with the restrictions imposed the by the government.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed yesterday urged people to strictly follow the lockdown restrictions and stay home to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Maqbul Ahmed, former Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam, died of coronavirus at a hospital in Dhaka yesterday afternoon.

Farid Ahmed, a national award-winning music director, passed away at a hospital in Dhaka yesterday. He was 60.

People were seen rushing out of the port city, facing almost no hindrance yesterday, the last day before enforcement of a weeklong lockdown throughout the country. Although the government asked residents to not move from their location, initiatives from the administration to compel people to comply with the directive were absent on the roads.

The government has appointed Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Md Asaduzzaman as the chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Yesterday was the last day of this year’s Ekushey Boimela. Marked by a delayed start and a lockdown announcement midway, the book fair -- originally scheduled to end on April 14 -- ended two days earlier due to the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin yesterday said the state will take necessary initiative for the Supreme Court’s hearing on the 2017 review petition challenging its verdict which upheld the cancellation of the 16th constitutional amendment that restored parliament’s power to remove judges for incapacity or misconduct.

Pointing out anomalies in relief distribution last year, Healthy Bangladesh, a civic platform of Bangladeshi professionals, has called upon the government to take lessons from the incident to avert recurrences this year.

The Supreme Court administration has directed jail authorities not to produce under-trial prisoners before the lower courts or tribunals concerned during case proceedings including hearing of their bail petitions till further order, as a precaution to Coronavirus outbreak.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Dhaka yesterday formed 14 virtual courts to deal with bail petitions and other urgent matters of pending cases.

The failure, mismanagement and corruption of the government were more responsible than people’s indifference to maintain safety protocol in transmission of coronavirus in the country, said Workers Party of Bangladesh yesterday.