In a significant move to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Saarc countries yesterday agreed to work together, create an emergency fund and share expertise, data and best practices.

“‘You will be put in a crossfire. Your time is up. Recite the kalima.’ I thought they were taking me somewhere to kill me. I broke down in tears.”

Despite growing concern over people moving about freely in self-quarantine, the government allowed 349, who returned home from Italy over the last two days, to go home.

The day Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen claimed that the government had blocked entry of Indians into Bangladesh, our correspondents reported that at least 69 Indian citizens entered the country through different land ports.

Three international rights bodies have urged Bangladesh to take immediate steps to locate journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, who has been missing since Tuesday.

A mobile court under a taskforce of Kurigram district administration sentenced a journalist to one-year imprisonment early yesterday after he was arrested from his home on charges of possessing narcotics.

Two more persons were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Bangladesh yesterday, hours after the authorities announced that the first three cases had tested negative.

In this atmosphere of fear-mongering, the one thing churning faster than the pandemic, is the rumour mill.

A newborn has tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, making the baby possibly one of the youngest cases in the country, UK’s local media reported.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) has suspended regular passenger-carrying trips to India following the neighbouring country’s travel restrictions on foreigners to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Governments around the world ramped up the battle against the new coronavirus yesterday by shutting borders and promising cash injections, as Italy, Spain and Iran emerged as global hotspots registering thousands of new infections and at least 335 deaths in just 24 hours.

Although the government is repeatedly requesting people returning home from abroad to be in home quarantine for 14 days to prevent spread of novel coronavirus, many of them are seen walking freely in their localities.

After daylong drama about quarantining people retuning from Italy, the authorities last night allowed 142 of them to go home and asked them to be in self isolation.

In a significant move, Saarc leaders will hold a video conference today to chalk out a strong common strategy to fight COVID-19 in the region.

The once vibrant Kaliganga river in Manikganj appears to be almost dead at places and local environmental activists blame illegal encroachment and absence of dredging for it.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, Australia’s minister for home affairs and a Chelsea soccer player are among new cases of the coronavirus that has infected almost 1,35,000 people and killed more than 4,900 worldwide.

Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research is collecting blood samples from patients admitted to hospitals with respiratory problems caused by unknown germs.

The World Health Organization yesterday warned that Europe was now the “epicentre” for the global coronavirus pandemic that has spread to more than 120 countries and killed more than 5,000 worldwide.

Countries around the world are taking various drastic measures to try to stop the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19. But the steps and guidelines given by Bangladesh government so far for the educational institutions seem not only to be hilarious but also far from reality.

Bangladeshi expatriates in some European counties, especially in Italy, find themselves in a precarious situation amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, with many of them left with no jobs and stuck at home without adequate supply of daily essentials.