Bangladesh closes all border with India amid a spike in Covid-19 cases

Bangladesh, May 17: Bangladesh Health Minister Zahid Malek announce the closure of all border with India until the ongoing Covid situation returns to normal in the country.

The land borders with India were sealed on April 26 in view of the worsening coronavirus situation in the neighbouring country.

The World Health Organization has declared the Indian variant as a “global concern”, which has been so far found in 44 countries.

Apart from the India variant, Bangladesh has so far detected the UK, South Africa, and Nigeria variants of the coronavirus.

The first case of the Indian variant was identified on May 8, according to the health department.

Amid a surge in Covid-19 infections in India, Bangladesh closed its border with India for passengers on April 26.

However, stranded citizens are being allowed to enter with a negative Covid-19 report. A two-week institutional quarantine has been mandatory for returnees.

India reported 2,81,386 new COVID-19 cases and 3,78,741 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Monday.


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While new cases continued to decrease, 4,106 Covid-related deaths were reported across the country.

The total positive cases in the country stands at 2,49,65,463, including 2,11,74,076 recoveries and 35,16,997 active cases.

The death toll, meanwhile, stands at 2,74,390. A total of 18,29,26,460 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the country so far.

A total of 31,64,23,658 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to May 16. Of these, 15,73,515 samples were tested on Sunday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed.