05-02-2022

SATuRDAY, FeBRuARY 5, 2022
2
On the occasion of World Cancer Day, a roundtable discussion meeting was held at Ahsania Mission Cancer and General
Hospital premises yesterday.
Photo : Courtesy
Covid-19 cases crosses 61,000
mark in Rangpur
RANGPUR: The number of Covid-19
cases have rapidly crossed the 61,000-
mark amid a quicker community
spread of the lethal virus in all eight
districts of Rangpur division, reports
BSS.
"The number of Covid-19 cases
climbed to 61,068 with diagnosis of
383 new patients after testing 987
samples at 38.80 percent positivity rate
on Thurssday," Divisional Director
(Health) Dr. Abu Md. Zakirul Islam
told BSS yesterday.
The number of Covid-19 positive
cases is increasing rapidly amid a rising
positivity rate in the last three weeks
deteriorating the pandemic situation in
Rangpur division.
Earlier, the daily Covid-19 positivity
rates were 38.98 percent on
Wednesday, 46.01 percent on Tuesday,
41.87 percent on Monday, 41.82
percent on Sunday, 53.31 percent on
Saturday and 25.41 percent on Friday
last in the division.
On Thursday, the daily positivity rate
were 37.40 percent in Rangpur, 49.30
percent in Panchagarh, 34.50 percent
in Nilphamari, 33.80 percent in
Lalmonirhat, 32.20 percent in
Kurigram, 49.50 percent in
Thakurgaon, 37.70 percent in Dinajpur
and 42.50 percent and Gaibandha
districts.
The district-wise break up of total
61,068 patients currently stands at
14,062 in Rangpur, 4,178 in
Panchagarh, 5,102 in Nilphamari,
3,051 in Lalmonirhat, 4,851 in
Kurigram, 8,366 in Thakurgaon, 16,196
in Dinajpur and 5,262 in Gaibandha in
the division.
"Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19
casualties remained steady at 1,257 as
no more patients died on Tuesday in
the division where the average casualty
rate now stands at 2.06 percent," Dr.
Islam said.
The district-wise break up of 1,257
fatalities stands at 295 in Rangpur, 81
in Panchagarh, 89 in Nilphamari, 70 in
Lalmonirhat, 69 in Kurigram, 256 in
Thakurgaon, 334 in Dinajpur and 63 in
Gaibandha.
"Since the outbreak of the pandemic,
a total of 3,23,161 collected samples
were tested till Thursday, and of them,
61,068 were found positive with an
average positivity rate of 18.90
percent," he said.
Meanwhile, the number of healed
Covid-19 patients reached 55,343 with
the recovery of 110 more patients on
Thursday in the division. The average
recovery rate stands at 90.63 percent.
"The average recovery rate of patients
539 test positive for
Covid-19 in Ctg
CHATTOGRAM: A total of 539
people were detected positive for
Covid-19 during the last 24 hours
after testing 3,190 samples at 16
Covid-19 laboratories in the
district, reports BSS.
The infection rate of the deadly
virus hit almost 16.89 percent in
the district till last morning.
With the diagnosis of 539 new
cases, the total number of Covid-19
patients climbed to 1,22,111 in the
district, Dr Ilias Chowdhury, civil
surgeon of Chattogram, told BSS
yesterday.
At the same time, the number of
healed Covid-19 patients rose to
1,01486 with the recovery of 406
more patients during the past 24
hours.
The average recovery rate
currently stands at 83.11 percent in
reached 97.12 percent on January 14
last in the division and the same
harshly dropped by 6.49 percent to
90.63 percent in only 20 days on
Thursday," Dr. Islam said.
The 55,343 recovered patients
include 12,475 of Rangpur, 3,782 of
Panchagarh, 4,416 of Nilphamari,
2,711of Lalmonirhat, 4,537of Kurigram,
7,672 of Thakurgaon, 14,859 of
Dinajpur and 4,891 of Gaibandha
districts in the division.
Among the 61,068 patients, 128 are
under treatment at isolation units,
including 14 critical patients at ICU
beds and seven at High Dependency
Unit beds, after recovery of 55,343
patients and 1,257 deaths while 4,340
are remaining in home isolation.
"In the meantime, the number of
citizens who got the first dose of the
Covid-19 vaccine rose to 1,08,29,636,
and among them, 65,77,111 got the
second dose and 1,92,012 got the
booster dose of the jabs till Thursday in
the division," Dr Islam added.
Talking to BSS, Principal of Rangpur
Medical College Professor Dr. Bimal
Chandra Roy suggested everyone to
sincerely abide by the health directives
to contain the community transmission
of the Covid-19 virus including its
Omicron variant for remaining safe.
Chattogram city and district. With
no more new deaths recorded
during the period, the fatality toll
remains steady at 1,359.
A total of 3,971 infected patients
are now undergoing patients rose
to 1,01486 with the recovery of 406
more patients during the past 24
hours. treatment at different
designated hospitals here, the
sources added.
Organized by Computer Jagat, a two-hour long policy dialogue was held online in the presence of 34 stakeholders
on the Challenges and Way Forward for using Bangla Font in Digital World recently. Photo: Courtesy
Russian scientist to go
on trial in Germany over
space rocket spying
BERLIN : A Russian
scientist accused of spying
for Moscow on Europe's
Ariane space rocket
programme while working
at a German university is to
go on trial in Munich this
month.
The accused, identified
only as Ilnur N., was
arrested in June 2021 -- the
latest in a string of alleged
Russian spies uncovered on
German soil at a time when
tensions between Russia
and the West are at their
worst since the Cold War.
The trial will open on
February 17, with 12
hearings initially planned
until April 8, the Munich
court said on Thursday.
Prosecutors allege that
Ilnur N. was contacted by
Russian agents in autumn
2019 or earlier, when he was
working at an unnamed
Bavarian university.
He then allegedly passed
information to Moscow
about research projects on
aerospace technology,
particularly the European
launcher Ariane.
The Ariane rockets are a
series of European Space
Agency transportation
vehicles designed to ferry
heavy loads including
satellites into space.
According to prosecutors,
Ilnur N. worked as a
research assistant at the
Bavarian university's natural
sciences and technology
department.
World's first malaria
vaccine making inroads
in western Kenya
SIAYA : Lucy Akinyi's three
children were infected with
malaria so often she would
be at their local health clinic
in western Kenya every
other week getting them
treated.
When offered the chance
to protect her children with
the world's first vaccine
against the deadly parasitic
disease, Akinyi jumped at
the chance, reports UNB.
More than 100,000
children in malariaendemic
western Kenya
have received the new
vaccine against the disease,
which kills 260,000
children under five every
year in sub-Saharan Africa.
A pilot programme has
been rolling out the
groundbreaking drugwhich
was 30 years in the
making-in Kenya, Ghana
and Malawi since 2019.
It was approved for broad
use for children in sub-
Saharan Africa and other
at-risk regions by the World
Health Organization
(WHO) in October last year.
One dies of Covid-19, 974
more infected in Rajshahi
RAJSHAHI: A total of 974 more people have
tested positive for Covid-19 in the division on
Thursday, taking the caseload to 1,13,722
since the pandemic began in March, 2020,
reports BSS.
The new positive cases are showing a rising
trend compared to the previous day's figure
of 830, said Dr Habibul Ahsan Talukder,
divisional director of health.
The death toll reached 1,716, including 697
in Bogura, 330 in Rajshahi with 211 in its city
and 176 in Natore as one new fatality was
reported during the past 24 hours, Dr
Talukder added.
Meanwhile, the recovery count rose to
1,00,359 in the division after 577 patients
were discharged from the hospitals on the
same day.
Besides, all the positive cases of Covid-19
have, so far, been brought under necessary
treatment while 24,928 were kept in
isolation units of different dedicated
hospitals for institutional quarantine. Of
them, 20,719 have been released.
Meanwhile, 399 more people have been sent
to home and institutional quarantine afresh
while 430 others were released from
isolation during the same time.
Of the 974 new cases, 332 were detected in
Pabna, followed by 242 in Rajshahi,
including 204 in the city, 91 in Bogura, 86
each in Naogaon and Sirajganj, 38 in Natore,
36 in Joypurhat and 33 in Chapainawabganj
districts.
With the newly detected patients, the
district-wise break-up of the total cases now
stands at 32,895 in Rajshahi, including
27,045 in city, 6,210 in Chapainawabganj,
7,486 in Naogaon, 9,314 in Natore, 5,413 in
Joypurhat, 24,305 in Bogura, 12,827 in
Sirajganj and 15,272 in Pabna.
A total of 1,21,926 people have, so far, been
kept under quarantine since March 10, 2020
to prevent community transmission of the
deadly virus.Of them, 1,16,576 have, by now,
been released as they were given clearance
certificates after completing their quarantine
period.
Beat Policing getting
popular in Gaibandha
GAIBANDHA: Beat Policing activity is
getting popular to the grass root level people
of the district for combating all sorts of social
crimes, reports BSS.
To attain the cherished goals of the beat
policing side by side with making the
policing activity more popular, the district
police are arranging functions on policing
activity in the participation of development
organizations of the district.
As part of the routine work, a function on
Beat Policing was also held on the premises
of Chithulia Dighor Madrasha under
Mollarchar Union of Sadar Upazila in the
district on Wednesday.
Friendship, one of the leading nongovernment
voluntary organizations of the
country, arranged the function under Good
Governance programme of Inclusive
Citizenship Sector.
Additional police super Abu Khayer
addressed the function as the main focal
person and officer in charge of Sadar thana
Masudur Rahman spoke at the event as the
resource person.
Presided over by local Union Parishad
(UP) Chairman Md. Saiduzzaman, the
function was also addressed, among others,
by UP member Shah Alam Sikder, social
worker Khalequzzaman, principal of the
Madrasha Abdul Hamid while regional
manager of the programme Nayeem
Kamran moderated the ceremony. The
speakers in their speeches underscored the
need for popularizing the beat policing
activities in grass root level to attain the
cherished goals of the beat policing.
OC of Sadar Thana Masudur Rahman said
the whole thana area are divided into 10 beat
areas and one sub inspector is assigned to
work in each of the beat areas.
Every beat in-charge uses a government's
authorized mobile number and the number
is available to general public, he said adding
that for quick response to the crime spot, the
patrol car of that beat area are used to reach
that spot.
Main focal person Additional police super
Abu Khayer said the beat policing activity
was introduced in all the unions of the Thana
last year aimed at increasing the
effectiveness of police service, ensuring quick
service provided by the thana police,
identifying the crime pattern, and criminals
side by side with increasing the police public
relationship and preventing crimes.
He also sought whole hearted cooperation
of all to make the beat policing activities
more successful.
Apart from it, the char dwellers present
were also made aware about the negative
impacts of child marriage and domestic
violence in the function.
A Large number of people from all walks of
life, local elite and invited persons including
journalists of print and electronic media
participated in the programme
spontaneously.
Executive director of Friendship, Runa
Khan said the organization has been working
in the chars of Gaibandha and Kurigram
districts for a decade last to ensure good
governance to the char inhabitants and their
overall development.
The cover of the book 'Smriti Deshe-Bideshe' was uncovered at Kaigari in
Bogura on Friday afternoon in a domestic setting. Junaid Rashid, the
youngest member of the family of meteorologist Mohammad Nazrul Islam
Akhand, unveiled the cover of the book.
Photo : Azahar Ali
Cyclone Batsurai injures 12 on
France's La Reunion island
SAINT-DENIS DE LA REUNION : At least
twelve people were injured on the French
Indian Ocean territory of La Reunion
Thursday as tropical cyclone Batsirai skirted
the island, hitting it with torrential rains and
powerful winds and leaving all residents
confined to their homes.
The island was placed on red alert on
Wednesday, forcing its 860,000 inhabitants
to barricade themselves indoors, with the
eye of the intense cyclone expected to pass
nearly 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the
coast early Thursday.
"The worst is not over," said La Reunion's
Prefect Jacques Billant, warning the island
will be hit with heavy rainfall as the storm
bears down.
Of the injured, 10 "had carbon monoxide
poisoning", a firefighter was "electrified"
attending a roof fire and another was
injured after "a fall from a roof", he told a
press conference.
The Meteo-France weather agency
confirmed to AFP Thursday the cyclone
remained on course to pass around 180
kilometres off La Reunion's coast, but was to
hit later than expected "during the morning"
Thursday as it had slowed overnight.
The warning came after Batsirai left
thousands of homes without power in
Mauritius to the east Wednesday, but
passed over the island without inflicting
major damage despite cyclone winds
bringing life to a standstill. The cyclone
passed within 130 kilometres (80 miles) of
the popular holiday destination, bringing
heavy downpours and winds of 120
kilometres per hour before it moved on with
La Reunion in its sights.
At 6:30 am (0230 GMT), the storm
remained an "intense tropical cyclone" as it
approached La Reunion, located around
200 kilometres from the island and moving
at nine kilometres per hour, the prefecture
of La Reunion said.
The red alert-the third degree of four in
the scale of hurricane alerts-for the island
"remains in full force", it said.
It left the island's airport closed, shops
shuttered and major roads shut for
residents as they hunkered down and
waited for the cyclone to pass.