The coronavirus pandemic is battering the world’s major economies and could trigger the deepest global recession in generations, experts warned yesterday, as rising death tolls in Europe and the US dampened hopes for a quick turnaround.

Forty-three-year-old Mosammat Roksana Ahmed, mother of three, and caregiver to her ill husband, passed away on the night of March 31 following multiple health complications including respiratory distress.

If the current containment strategy fails, the country will enter stage-4 of the coronavirus outbreak and then the strategy will be to mitigate the impact, health officials said.

The holy Shab-e-Barat, the night of fortune and forgiveness, will be observed in the country tonight.

The country continues to see a steady uptick in coronavirus cases as the authorities reported three more deaths and 54 new cases yesterday.

A group of people have come forward to provide funeral services and bury the bodies of those who died of Covid-19, while many graveyard committees have been reluctant to do so.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the government has decided to give incentives to doctors, nurses, health workers and other employees who are fighting the war against Covid-19.

The blood donations different voluntary organisations and blood banks receive have decreased sharply amid the outbreak of novel coronavirus, raising fears that many patients in need would not get the blood.

Hours after his arrest, a Dhaka court yesterday sent Capt Abdul Majed, convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

Covid-19 related loss to the country’s tour operators in the last three months has been around Tk 1500 crore and is likely to shoot up to Tk 6000 crore by the end of this year, said Tour Operator Association of Bangladesh (Toab).

At least 10 people have died with Covid-19-like symptoms in seven districts since Monday night.

Mainland China yesterday reported no coronavirus deaths for the first time since the pandemic began, and a drop in new cases, a day before the central city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late in December, is set to lift its lockdown.

Mentioning that April is a crucial month regarding the Covid-19 outbreak, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said anybody with symptoms of coronavirus infection must see a doctor and must not hide symptoms.

Things look ominous as coronavirus infections keep surging in the country with the authorities reporting five new deaths and 41 confirmed cases yesterday, the highest in a single day.

The coronavirus pandemic death toll yesterday crossed 70,000 mark -- some 50,000 of them in Europe -- despite early signs that some of Europe’s hardest-hit countries may be turning a corner.

The government yesterday said effective immediately, no one, except those employed by mosques, are allowed to offer daily or Juma prayers at mosques across the country.

At least 25 people were injured as police and garment workers clashed in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka upazila yesterday.

Newspapers and other essential services will remain out of the purview of the ongoing shutdown, which was announced by the government to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

While the authorities maintain that community transmission is happening only in clusters and that there is nothing to worry, experts say unless the government draws up a cluster containment strategy immediately, the situation will remain worrisome.

The authorities yesterday reported the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus and confirmed infections in 15 districts.