The UK coronavirus strain has spread to at least 60 countries, the World Health Organization reported yesterday, as 1.6 million residents were banned from leaving Beijing after two cases linked to the new strain were found in the Chinese capital.

More than 600 people have been arrested and troops have been deployed after a third consecutive night of riots in several Tunisian cities, officials said yesterday.

Slovakia yesterday began a new round of nationwide Covid-19 screening -- a process aimed at easing curfew restrictions for people who test negative.

The global Covid-19 vaccination drive gained pace yesterday as Brazil gave its first injections and France and Britain joined a growing list of nations starting mass vaccinations for all elderly citizens.

The European Union started the approval process for its third vaccine yesterday after WHO scientists warned that herd immunity from coronavirus was unlikely this year even with mass inoculation schemes.

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpassed 90 million yesterday, as nations around the globe raced to dose millions of people and extend or reinstate lockdowns to fight new coronavirus variants.

Cuba will test its most advanced Covid vaccine candidate, in Iran, the research center that developed it announced on Saturday.

The daily number of new coronavirus cases has doubled in China, prompting tougher movement restrictions and, in the capital, passengers must scan a health code before boarding a cab or ride-hailing car, officials said yesterday.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s younger brother Abdul Quader Mirza yesterday said Awami League men were calling him insane because he spoke against corruption and misdeeds by many leaders of the party.

The world’s poorest countries can expect to start receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine doses between the end of January and mid-February, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

World Health Organization experts warned Wednesday there could be six months of “hard, hard road ahead” in 2021 before vaccines turn the tide against the coronavirus pandemic.

An expert mission to China to probe the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic was in disarray yesterday after Beijing denied entry to the World Health Organization team at the last minute despite months of painstaking negotiations.

A year after the outbreak started, WHO experts are due in China for a highly politicised visit to explore the origins of the coronavirus, in a trip trailed by accusations of cover-ups, conspiracy and fears of a whitewash.

Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations yesterday to fight a resurgence in the coronavirus, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to improve distribution “bottlenecks”.

Bangladesh has decided to gradually resume economic activities, a decision that was taken at a time when the daily detection of coronavirus patients in the country is on the rise -- from 418 on 26 April to 1,034 on 11 May.

The recent events in the garment sector regarding the workers’ unpaid wages, layoffs, retrenchment and opening of factories without proper safety measures portray that the May Day does not bear any more significance than a normal day.

On 5 April, the honourable prime minister has announced the second stimulus package in view of addressing the adversity of coronavirus on our economy.

The outbreak of coronavirus is deepening in the country and the risks on public health and overall economy is getting high.

Much is still to be desired from the efforts of local governments to stop the dengue epidemic as the number of cases has risen to nearly 250,000 nationwide with more than 1,000 dead, over a third them children.

Around the world, mosquitoes are winning their war of attrition. With the help from a tiny bacterium, scientists are fighting back.