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May 30, 2020 NEWSLETTER |
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Bangladesh ends general holidays with restrictions in place From 31 May to 15 June, Bangladesh is entering a new phase of tackling the Covid-19 crisis, with an end to the general holidays which started on 26 March. While offices have been allowed to open, educational institutions would remain closed and movement both between and among cities would be restricted. This was hinted by Honourable Prime Minister (HPM) Sheikh Hasina on the eve of Eid when she said: “Life cannot remain at a standstill. We may have to live with the coronavirus at least until a vaccine is developed. But economic activities must be restarted for the sake of our livelihoods". |
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Bangladesh to recruit 5,000 more personnel in health sector 
Bangladesh Government is recruiting 5,000 more personnel in the public healthcare system to strengthen its fighting ability against the Covid-19. The process to recruit 2,000 more doctors, 1200 medical technologists, 1650 medical technicians and 150 cardiographers is in the final stage. With the 2,000 doctors and 5,054 nurses already recruited in May as per Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership, the addition of 12,000 new personnel represents the biggest recruitment spree in the country’s health sector. |
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60 million people receive govt food aid in Bangladesh 
The government in Bangladesh is continuing its policy of distributing urgent food and cash support for those affected most by the Covid-19 induced lockdown. According to the district administrations of 64 districts, as of last Saturday, a total of 182,067 tonnes of rice has been allocated as relief and of the volume, 1,62,193 tonnes have been distributed among about 60 million people of 13 million families across the country. Additionally, the government has so far allocated more than $11 million for distributing as cash assistance among about 30 million people. |
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All hospitals in Bangladesh ordered to provide Covid-19 treatment 
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has directed all hospitals, whether public or private, with more than 50-beds capacity to treat Covid-19 patients side by side with non-covid patients. According to the government directive, all hospitals would need to be divided into 'Covid-19' and 'Non-Covid' zones and all respective patients will have to be treated separately in the same hospital. The directive, issued on May 24, applies to all government and private hospitals, medical colleges, clinics, and diagnostic centres. |
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Creating jobs: $829 million Project to create rural self-employment 
The Youth and Sports Ministry in Bangladesh has taken up a project worth over $829 million to create self-employment and alleviate poverty caused by Covid-19. It aims at making a huge portion of the population, who have left the cities due to a lack of jobs amid the coronavirus lockdown, stay in their villages and earn on their own. Under the project, the youths will get training, mainly on agriculture and fisheries so that they can create jobs for others as well as supporting themselves and their families. |
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USA lauds Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership 
The United States has appreciated HPM Sheikh Hasina's leadership and described Bangladesh as a "dynamic entrepreneurial society" whose social indicators have been a real success story. The US mentioned the HPM’s leadership in lifting women up in particular. The comments came from US acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice G. Wells in a special briefing via telephone where she also said, "The last three years has also seen significant growth in the US-Bangladesh relationship". She added that Bangladesh has rightly been commended for the generous response of its government and people to the Rohingya crisis and their cooperation with international humanitarian partners. |
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Bangladesh ships 6.5 million PPE gowns to US 
Bangladesh has joined a select group of countries that manufacture world-class, large-scale Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as local Beximco this week sent a shipment of 6.5 million PPE gowns manufactured in Bangladesh to the US brand Hanes for ultimate delivery to USA’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller said the event marked "the first major shipment of PPE sent to the US." He added, "US welcomes Bangladesh's world-class large-scale PPE production to the global marketplace. The Beximco-Hanes partnership is another great example of how our two great nations are combating the Covid-19 pandemic". |
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BANGLADESH AWAMI LEAGUE |
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