Arun Bikash Dey

Many Chattogram residents are dealing with a new financial struggle, as prices of most vegetables have shot up by Tk 10-20 per kg in the span of a week, putting further pressure on families, many of which already saw their incomes fall due to the pandemic.

Public vehicles in the port city are defying government instructions, as they are carrying more passengers than the seat capacity, contributing to further transmission of the coronavirus.

Recreational destinations of the port city were reopened on Saturday after five months, but visitors were few and far between as fear of infection still remains. Moreover, the weather has not been favourable.

Once again residents in port city had to suffer immensely due to waterlogging caused by torrential rain yesterday. Most low-lying areas in the city went under knee- to waist-deep water.

Health guidelines are not being followed in public transports in Chattogram, increasing the risk of worsening coronavirus situation.

Khorshed Alam Sujan took charge as Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) administrator on Thursday. He has been appointed for 180 days as the CCC polls was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Incessant rain brought sufferings to port city residents, as many areas went under water.

The tenure of the incumbent council of Chattogram City Corporation will expire on August 5 and the government is going to employ an administrator to run the CCC during the interim period until an election is held to elect a new body.

With most doctors not attending chambers for over three months, patients in Chattogram are being compelled to seek health-related suggestions from staff members at various dispensaries, leading to irrational use of antibiotics which can have adverse health impacts in the long run.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been countless incidents across the country of medical services becoming scarce, from overwhelmed hospitals to shut-down private practices. And yet, there were hundreds of doctors and staff who remained resolute to their oath of serving patients.

People in Chattogram are concerned after instances of misleading Covid-19 test reports from private labs emerge there, while an expert says there is a lack of trained manpower in the private labs in port city.

Allegations of mistakes and mismanagement in Covid-19 test results have been growing at the Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) in Chattogram city, as the centre continues to work through the health crisis with limited resources.

“Setting up ICU beds is a crying need to save lives. The government has no scope to neglect the issue,” he said.

Sufferings of kidney patients, who are also infected with Covid-19, have doubled as there is no scope of dialysis for them in the port city.

In isolation, all Prof Dr Shakeel Ahmed thinks about is rejoining the fight against Covid-19. At the same time, he has also made sure that the work continues during his absence.

Prof Dr Shakeel Ahmed, in-charge of Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID), had been feeling unwell since Saturday. But the doctor did not take it seriously and continued his duty in the laboratory. Yesterday, he decided to test his own sample and found the result Covid-19 positive.

Researchers have found five points of mutation in the genome structure of novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) in Chattogram.

Researchers in Chattogram have decoded the complete genome sequence of Covid-19 samples collected from the port city and different upazilas in the district.

When Jamshed Haider, a banker and a resident of port city’s Ameerbagh Residential Area, started to have breathing difficulties on the morning of May 11, his family took him to Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID), a government hospital dedicated for treating Covid-19 patients in Chattogram.

With the percentage of Covid-19 positive cases increasing at an alarming rate and the total number of positive cases reaching 641 from 89 in just 12 days as of Friday, experts opine that the outbreak may be approaching its peak in Chattogram.