People urged to take caution as Covid cases rise

Expressing his grave concern over the rising cases in coronavirus infection, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque has called upon the countrymen to stay alert to avoid any further catastrophe.

All will have to follow the health rules by wearing masks and maintaining social distances otherwise the spate of the coronavirus will go out of control, Maleque said after a meeting at his ministry office in Dhaka Monday afternoon.

A total of 109 cases were detected Sunday, he said, sounding a warning that no negligence in maintaining the health guidelines will be allowed anywhere from now on.

“The Covid has not been eliminated yet. It still exists. We are in a normal stage. We all will have to be caring so that the situation cannot go beyond our control,” the health minister said.

A number of ministers and some eminent persons have already been detected positive for the virus. And, the number of coronavirus patients is increasing at hospitals, he said, calling upon the unvaccinated people to take the jabs immediately.

Dwelling on the allocation provided in the health sector for 2022-23 FY, Maleque expressed his all-out satisfaction over the allocation.

On June 9, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the draft national budget proposed an increase in allocation in the health sector by 12.62 percent.

He proposed to allocate Tk 36,864 crore for health services and health education sector, up by Tk 4,133 crore than last year’s allocation.

The minister came up with the proposal while unveiling the national budget for fiscal 2022-23 in the National Parliament.