In the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Health and Prevention yesterday reported 342 new cases of COVID-19 in the country. This brings the total number of cases in the UAE to 42,636. In all, 667 new cases of recoveries have also been recorded, bringing the total number of recoveries to 28,129. New cases of infection in the UAE have been on a decline for a while. Two cases of death have also been reported due to the infection, bringing the total number of deaths to 291 in the country.

In another development, the travel ban to Abu Dhabi has been extended by a week . The movement restrictions in Abu Dhabi were first introduced on 2nd of June to ensure mass testing for the COVID-19 virus in order to contain its spread.

In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that 4,507 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Kingdom, bringing the total number to 1,32,048 cases, including 43,147 active cases receiving necessary medical care.

Of these, there are 1,897 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable. As many as 3,170 cases have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 87,890. The Ministry of Health said that 39 new deaths have been reported; bringing the total deaths to 1,011

Bangladesh reports highest death toll in one day, infections cross 94,000
Bangladesh continued to report a large number of Corona deaths and new infections even as the death toll in the country reached the figure of 1262 on Tuesday.

It reported 53 deaths on Tuesday which is the largest single-day toll due to Coronavirus in Bangladesh. The number of infected people has also crossed 94,000 since the first Corona positive case was reported in Bangladesh on March 8.

After the opening up of the offices, shops and malls, public transport and other places of a public gathering on a limited scale, the government of Bangladesh has been trying to adopt the zone wise lockdown approach to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.
Areas with a large number of Corona positive cases in the country have been declared red zones. The local administration has imposed complete lockdown in those areas.

The Technical Committee of the government has marked 45 areas in Dhaka as seriously affected by COVID 19 infection. Several areas in Cox’s Bazar, Narayanganj, Bandarban, Manikganj and Chittagong have been put under lockdown after they were found to have a large number of Corona positive cases.

In the meanwhile, evacuation of Indian citizens from Bangladesh is continuing under the Vande Bharat Mission. While more than 2300 people have already been evacuated, the High Commission of India in Bangladesh is likely to organize some more evacuation exercises to move those Indians who want to leave Bangladesh in view of the Corona pandemic.

On Tuesday, a batch of 166 passengers left for Delhi and Ahmedabad from Dhaka. It was the first flight to Ahmedabad from Bangladesh under the Vande Bharat Mission.

The evacuation may continue depending upon the requirement and condition on the ground.

Sri Lankan cannot let COVID health crisis develop into economic crisis: Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asserted they cannot let the COVID health crisis develop into an economic crisis. In a meeting with Central bank officials last evening, the President said many tools have been introduced by the Central Banks in the countries around the world but Sri Lanka has not received such a positive response from its central bank.

Mr. Rajapaksa said the government will have to take the blame for the economic slowdown due to this serious negligence on the part of the Central bank. He exhorted central bank officials not to shirk responsibility and let him know the correct strategy.

Pointing out the massive mandate he received from the people, the President lamented that the Central bank has obstructed the implementation of the proposals made by him. His comments came as Sri Lanka has been witnessing a slowdown in economic growth even before the COVID crisis while the debt liability has risen putting the currency under pressure.