A mob set fire to Saltha upazila nirbahi officer’s office and two government vehicles early today after officials trying to enforce Covid-19 guidelines at a tea stall sparked anger.

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

As voting for the third phase of the West Bengal election takes place today, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will focus on keeping its traditional bastion intact while India ruler Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will try to end its duck in the battle for 31 Assembly seats.

Bangladesh was in focus of the global community last week as the country celebrated the golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Covid-19 infection rate hit a new record yesterday as a total of 7,087 people tested positive in the past 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday.

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.

With no sign of Covid-19 going away any time soon, accurate and sufficient surveillance data is more important than ever to help inform public health policy in fighting the pandemic, said Dr Nazrul Islam, member of the UN-WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Mortality Assessment.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged people to do their part in stopping the spread of coronavirus which had struck the country even stronger.

Residents in the capital yesterday worked themselves into a frenzy to stock up on food supplies and household essentials ahead of the weeklong restrictions on transport and public movement from today.

A sudden rush of people in kitchen markets and a growing number of passengers at inter-district bus terminals in Dhaka was seen after the news of a possible lockdown from Monday onward was announced in the media yesterday.

One thing from the lockdown last year still etched raw in the collective memory of the city is hordes of hungry people coming out onto the streets.

A week after the Brahmanbaria mayhem, Hefajat-e-Islam, the ruling Awami League and the BNP are trading blame for the widespread violence and damages in the town.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the government has sought the bank account details of 24 leaders of different organisations, including Hefajat-e-Islam and 30 madrasas.

The government has decided to impose a countrywide “lockdown” for a week from tomorrow in a desperate bid to contain the rising number of new cases of Covid-19 and deaths from it.

Their names had become synonymous with fear.

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

The prolonged closure of schools is causing an education crisis that may cost Bangladesh and other South Asian countries over $1 trillion in lost earnings in the long run, according to a World Bank report.

The admission test for medical colleges was held across the country yesterday amid widespread violation of health safety rules outside many exam centres, risking further spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Rangunia range office of Chattogram Divisional Forest Office (South) protested a report published by The Daily Star headlined “Gunfight staged to get stolen logs released” on March 7.

Although Hefajat-e-Islam has unleashed mayhem in different districts recently, it is now blaming the ruling party for it.