Bangladesh on Friday introduced a strict countrywide shutdown till additional discover to examine the unfold of Covid-19, because it reported 108 deaths from coronavirus, the second highest single-day toll because the pandemic’s outbreak within the nation.
Health officers mentioned the lethal Delta variant of the coronavirus, first recognized in India, has unfold to Dhaka, mounting strain on well being amenities within the nation’s capital.”Other than emergency services, all government and private offices will remain closed. No one will be allowed to go out of home without urgent reasons,” an official order mentioned.Only goods-laden and emergency autos will likely be allowed to function in the course of the lockdown, it mentioned.The demise toll resulting from Covid-19 reached 13,976 whereas the entire variety of constructive instances touched 8,78,804 with 5,869 new instances within the final 24 hours, based on the most recent knowledge by the Health Ministry.The nation recorded the very best 112 deaths on April 19 this 12 months.The well being authorities’ report got here hours after the Public Administration Ministry mentioned they awaited a authorities resolution to implement a two-week lengthy nationwide shutdown in keeping with the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on COVID-19.”We are ready to enforce the shutdown anytime. It (enforcement) will be tougher than that of last year,” Junior Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain instructed reporters.NTAC mentioned they’ve beneficial a “strict countrywide lockdown when no offices other than emergency services would operate as their experts were convinced that the worsening situation could not be controlled without a nationwide shutdown.Bangladesh is experiencing an increase in the Covid-19 infection rate, with the latest report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) noting that out of the country’s 64 administrative districts 43 were at “very excessive danger whereas 15 others, together with Dhaka, had been at “high risk.Health officials said the Delta variant of the coronavirus has spread to Dhaka, mounting pressure on health facilities here.The northern and southwestern regions bordering India have also reported cases of Delta variant.Authorities last week ordered a lockdown in seven central districts surrounding Dhaka in an effort to isolate the capital from the rest of the country to prevent community transmission in view of rising infection cases in bordering regions.But experts said the Delta variant made its way to the capital through community transmission and the doctors said the number of Covid-19 patients was increasing every day at hospitals.The country’s biggest state-run health facility, Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), said 80 per cent of their Covid-19 patients were residents of the capital city and the number is increasing every day.”The variety of Covid-19 sufferers is growing on a regular basis at DMCH and 80 per cent of them are residents of Dhaka metropolis. This means an infection fee is growing within the capital, DMCH Director Brigadier General Md Nazmul Haque instructed the state-run BSS information company.Haque mentioned the present variety of Covid-19 sufferers in DMCH was almost 4 instances increased than that of final month and feared if this pattern continued “all general and ICU beds in the city will be fulfilled within 10 to 12 days.Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital reported a nearly identical picture with its additional director Nazmul Karim Manik saying pressure (of coronavirus patients) is mounting gradually and most of them are from Dhaka.Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Prof Dr Tahmina Shirin said districts bordering India are more exposed to the Delta variant compared to Dhaka.”The Delta variant is essentially liable for the current spike of the coronavirus instances. We should examine folks’s motion in border districts to include the neighborhood transmission,” Shirin mentioned.DGHS officers mentioned the scenario in districts with borders with India significantly in southwestern Khulna area continued to worsen and at locations the Covid-19 positivity fee had been discovered to be 100 per cent.(With PTI inputs)