Mohammad Jamil Khan

Dwindling blood donation due to the Covid-19 related shutdown is taking a heavy toll on thalassemia patients, who need frequent blood transfusions depending on their condition.

Sifat missed going out. There was a small open place in front of his house in Hatirjheel, where the four-year-old loved to play under his mother’s watchful eyes.

Thousands of people left Dhaka for the second straight day yesterday to celebrate Eid in their village homes, violating travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The numbers of Covid-19 infection in Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party are rising sharply on a daily basis.

Police yesterday stepped up measures to restrict movement of people and vehicles nationwide during the Eid holidays with an aim to curb further spread of the novel coronavirus.

Although Dhaka has by far the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country, two neighbourhoods at the heart of the city have managed to crush the Covid-19 curve.

No cacophony of metals clinking, no yelling of experts to apprentice mechanics, only skeletons of under-repair vehicles parked by the roadside testifies that there used to be automobile workshops on Motiheel’s Culvert Road. These days, an eerie silence pervades the area.

To reduce exposure to Covid-19 infection, police have introduced an app and mobile shop to reach daily commodities to the doorsteps of Dhaka residents.

Despite protective measures taken by authorities, the number of infection in the police force has been on a rapid rise with around one hundred officials across the country testing positive for Covid-19 daily over the last one week.

Taking advantage of growing demand for hand gloves and masks, several syndicates are reselling discarded products exposing people to the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus in the country.

Some of the capital’s largest shopping malls have decided not to reopen on May 10 when the coronavirus restrictions will be relaxed.

The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police claimed to have arrested 17 members of JMB from the capital’s Kakrail area, who were planning to join a so-called jihad after migrating into Saudi Arabia.

Much has been written about the garment sector’s export orders hitting a brick wall for the global coronavirus pandemic.

While the government has extended the ongoing shutdown to May 16 to ensure social distancing, many continue to crowd roads amid the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

Though the ongoing shutdown has put informal workers in the construction sector in a tight spot as they are largely dependent on daily wages, the ministry concerned has failed to act promptly to address their hardships.

Soaring prices of essentials in Ramadan have become a major burden at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are struggling with reduced income due to the coronavirus restrictions.

A total of 218 policemen tested Covid-19 positive as of yesterday while 652 others of the force are in quarantine, says the Police Headquarters (PHQ).

Dhaka Metropolitan Police is set to go tougher on those who would roam around streets as the number of Covid-19 patients has been ratcheting up in the country.

Sadek Ali, a boatman who plies his trade on the Buriganga, took loans from his relatives to send his only son to Brunei two months ago. This, he hoped, would bring his family better days, and finally allow him to retire from after a 20-year long career.

They spent their childhood working as labourers in the capital’s Karwan Bazar kitchen market. Their task was to unload vegetables from trucks that arrived in droves at the market.