Hasina alerts Bangladesh to possible winter coronavirus wave

“We have been able to tackle the ongoing outbreak maybe because everyone is working sincerely,” she said at a virtual programme on Sunday.

“But the situation may worsen further slightly because winter is coming. So we need to get ready now," she added.

Hasina joined the programme via video conferencing from the Ganabhaban to receive monetary help for the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund.

Globally, around 30.8 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and over 957,000 have died from the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus.

More than 210 countries and territories have reported infections since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The caseload in Bangladesh has neared 350,000 with around 4,940 deaths.

After reopening the economies following months of lockdowns to stem the pandemic, the numbers of infections have begun rising in different European countries in what many fear the second wave.

The World Health Organisation has recently warned that COVID-19 is spreading at a worrying pace in some parts of the northern hemisphere, a few months away from the winter influenza season.