Another police official died from coronavirus at a city hospital yesterday, raising the Covid-19 deaths of police personnel to six.

The burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, dedicated to treating Covid-19 patients, has not been testing many who died there after exhibiting Covid-19-like symptoms.

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

After around a month, the government yesterday lifted restrictions on people gathering at mosques, but said the mosque authorities must follow some health guidelines.

The country continues to see a record surge in coronavirus infections every day with 790 new cases reported yesterday, taking the total to 11,719.

Even a month ago, small trader Didar Hossain had quite a decent life.

Eleven people, including a cartoonist, a journalist and a writer, were charged with “spreading rumours and carrying out anti-government activities” under the Digital Security Act yesterday.

Legal experts and rights activists have expressed grave concern over continuous filing of cases and subsequent arrests of journalists under the Digital Security Act, saying that the law was formulated and now being enforced to “gag the media and freedom of expression”.

Six local drug makers are set to produce the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, which has shown promise in fighting the new coronavirus, from this month.

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has filed a petition with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka seeking its permission to show photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol arrested in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

All educational institutions will remain closed until May 30 on the occasions of Ramadan, Jumatul Wida, Shab-e-Qadr, and Eid-ul-Fitr, said Mahbub Hossain, secondary and higher education division secretary.

The government has appointed 2,000 doctors as assistant surgeons in the BCS (Health) Cadre to fight the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

In a surprising development, Bidyanondo Foundation founder chairperson Kishore Kumar Das announced his resignation yesterday. The notice of his resignation appeared on the organisation’s official Facebook page.

In a desperate attempt to get the economy back on track, the government has reopened factories that remained closed for around a month in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Due to a lack of coordination and support from the health ministry, a good number of laboratories and experts based in universities and government research institutions remain unutilised in the country’s Covid-19 response.

Another physician has died of Covid-19 in the country.

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.

This year’s minimum Fitra has been fixed at Tk 70 per person.

The much-hyped Padma Bridge project is likely to miss its current deadline of June 2021 which may increase its cost again, officials said.

While health officials still do not know when the coronavirus outbreak will peak and then plateau, confirmed coronavirus cases crossed the 10,000 mark with the announcement of a record 688 new cases yesterday.