Author: Sumon Admin

''Under the prudent and visionary leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh isdelivering public health services and humanitarian emergency aide to our people's door step, utilizing ‘GovTech’ and ‘DevTech’ under her ‘Digital Bangladesh’ vision'', said Bangladesh High Commissioner Saida Muna Tasneem at the virtual Commonwealth Leaders meeting on the COVID-19 crisis earlier this week. Presidents, Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of 30 Commonwealth member countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Belize, Bahamas, Uganda, Tanzania, Guyana, and the Gambia attended the meeting. High Commissioner Tasneem was speaking at the virtual Commonwealth Leaders meeting as a representative of Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She briefed the Commonwealth leaders about Prime Minister Sheikh...

    Staff and residents in care homes in England will be regularly tested for coronavirus from next week, the government has said. Care home workers will be tested weekly, while residents will receive a test every 28 days, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). It has also promised intensive testing in any care home facing a coronavirus outbreak or an increased risk of a flare-up. The programme will be rolled out from Monday to all care homes for people aged over 65, and those with dementia, which have registered to receive re-testing over the next four weeks. It will then be expanded to the entire care home sector from August. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government's response to the pandemic "has always been led by the latest scient...

    Individual air bridges will be effectively abandoned by the Government, as it emerged that as many as 75 countries will be on the first quarantine exemption list for British holidaymakers. The list, to be published on Thursday or Friday, will lift the Foreign Office ban on non-essential travel to nearly all EU destinations, the British territories including Bermuda and Gibraltar, and Turkey, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. All 75 have been judged sufficiently low risk destinations for holidaymakers based on the prevalence of Covid-19, that their infection rate is in decline and that their data on the state of the disease can be trusted. It means that from Monday travellers to the 75 countries will no longer have to quarantine for 14 days on their return to the...

    A police and crime commissioner has criticised the Government’s decision to reopen bars on a Saturday , warning of a “likely threat of serious disorder” as coronavirus lockdown measures are relaxed. The intervention from David Jamieson, the elected commissioner for the West Midlands Police area, came as Boris Johnson was accused of being "blind to the risks of easing lockdown". Sir Keir Starmer claimed the Prime Minister had "brushed away serious concerns" and decided to relax measures without the "world-beating" test, track and trace system that he had previously promised . Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan has warned that London needs more powers to ensure a Leicester-style local lockdown can be enforced if necessary, amid warnings of a "second wave" of coronavirus hitting t...

    Scotland has recorded no new deaths from coronavirus for the fourth day running, Nicola Sturgeon has said. During a Scottish Government briefing, Ms Sturgeon announced the total number of people who have died after contracting the virus remains at 2,482. She added five more people tested positive for the virus since Sunday, taking the total to 18,241. A total of 740 patients were in Scottish hospitals with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, down 38 in 24 hours. Of these, 10 were intensive care, which is a fall of three. The Scottish First Minister also spoke on the issue of air bridges between the UK and countries in Europe. She said the UK Government did not consult the Scottish Government ahead of the changes. Scotland's Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf had a conf...

    British Airways (IAG.L) has sacked 350 pilots and placed 300 others in a “pool” for re-hire “when needed.” The Sun on Sunday reported the deal, which BA came to with pilot union Balpa, is still waiting to be finalised but is a “relief” for the airline, after fears of strikes. “Constructive talks are ongoing with Balpa to save as many jobs as possible,” British Airways told Yahoo Finance UK. This comes shortly after BA announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs and implement pay cuts for 36,000, after experiencing its steepest ever downturn in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. Planes were grounded in March by lockdown measures in an attempt to curb the pandemic. Balpa succeeded in preventing BA from implementing a “last in, first out” policy that would mean workers hired most...

    Schools may not reopen in September if people continue to flout social distancing rules, experts warn. This week Brits packed onto beaches in their thousands as the country enjoyed a heatwave - with many failing to stay two metres apart. It prompted authorities to declare a major incident on Thursday amid fears it could lead to a spike in new infections. The UK yesterday recorded the highest number of deaths in 10 days, with a further 186 fatalities linked to Covid-19. It brings the official death toll to 43,414, although in reality it is far higher, with figures revealing it has now topped 54,000. Scientists are now warning of a second peak which could claim thousands more lives if the UK is not careful coming out of lockdown. Boris Johnson has announced a stri...

    Royal Mail is to cut 2,000 jobs in a management restructuring prompted by the additional challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. The cuts will reduce the number of UK management roles in the business, currently totalling 9,700, by around a fifth. They come just over a month after Royal Mail's chief executive Rico Back quit with less than two years in the role. The cuts are intended to deliver cost savings of £130m a year as the business struggles to adapt to changes in demand accelerated by the coronavirus crisis - with more parcels but fewer letters being delivered. Keith Williams, Royal Mail's interim executive chairman, said: In recent years, our UK business has not adapted quickly enough to the changes in our marketplace of more parcels and fewer letters. COVID...