India’s health ministry warned on Sunday that a huge gathering of devotees for a Hindu festival could send coronavirus cases surging, as the country recorded the most new infections in nearly four months.

China has accelerated its vaccinations against Covid-19, administering 10 million doses in around a week, and is considering varied visa policies based on vaccination and virus conditions in different countries, officials said today.

Twenty-two people died of Covid-19 infection across the country in 24 hours (till 8 this morning), according to a press release issued by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

With Covid-19 infections rising in the country again, Bangladesh Police launched an awareness campaign to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Law enforcers are distributing masks and urged people to follow health rules to curb Covid-19 in Dhaka and different parts of the country.

The SARS COV-2 has mutated 4,604 times in Bangladesh since the first week of December last year, of which 34 were unique mutations which means they do not match with any other mutation found in the world.

AstraZeneca said on Sunday its COVID-19 vaccine contains no pork-derived ingredients, countering an assertion in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, that the drug violates Islamic law.

At least 30 people were fined for not wearing masks at Patenga Beach of the port city today.

Wealthy countries are blocking proposals to help developing nations increase their vaccine manufacturing capabilities, a BBC report said today.

Twenty-six people died of Covid-19 infection across the country in 24 hours (till 8 this morning), according to a press release issued by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Dr Faisal Sultan, his aide on health, confirmed on Twitter.

After six weeks of decline in January and February, cases of Covid-19 are now increasing in most regions of the world. Meanwhile, deaths are falling, though at a slower rate, according to the World Health Organization, specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.

Director General Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam and Director of Management Information System (MIS) Professor Dr Mizanur Rahman of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) have been infected with Covid-19.

BNP Vice-Chairman Major Gen (Retd) Ruhul Alam Chowdhury died of Covid-19 infection at a hospital this morning.

Scientists are exploring several possibilities that might explain at least 18 reports of extremely rare blood clots in the brain that occurred in individuals in the days and weeks after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

Nepal gave emergency authorisation to India’s Covid-19 vaccine COVAXIN, becoming only the third country to approve the shot, developed by Bharat Biotech and a state research institute.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she would take AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot.

Nearly a dozen countries resumed use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shots today as EU and British regulators said the benefits outweighed any risks after reports of rare instances of blood clotting that temporarily halted inoculations.

Eighteen people have died from Covid-19 in 24 hours (till 8am today), according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $500 million in financing from the International Development Association (IDA) to help Bangladesh vaccinate 54 million people against Covid-19.

Germany, France and other European nations have announced plans to resume using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after EU and British regulators moved to shore up confidence in the shot, saying its benefits outweigh the risks.