12 SC judges contract Covid-19

Twelve judges of the Appellate Division and the High Court have been infected with Covid-19.

Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique said when court proceedings started on Monday morning.

Trial proceedings in many important benches have been suspended due to surge of Covid cases, said the Chief Justice. "If one of a double bench gets infected, the trial of that bench remains suspended."

"In this case, if you do not cooperate, then it becomes difficult for us. Otherwise, we will have to reintroduce virtual judicial proceedings," he added.

Amid a steady rise in Covid infections, Bangladesh reported two more Covid-linked deaths with 1,680 new infections in 24 hours till Sunday morning.

The new figures took the country's total death toll to 29,140 while caseload to 19,65,173, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The daily-case positivity rate jumped to 15.66 per cent from Saturday's 15.07 per cent as 10,778 samples were tested during the period, said the DGHS.

The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.48 per cent. The recovery rate declined to 97.02 per cent from Saturday's 97.10 per cent as 169 patients recovered during this period.