AMN / BSS / DHAKA
Bangladesh has reported first death due to Coronavirus. A COVID-19 infected person died at a hospital in Dhaka today, said the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
“A COVID-19 patient aged over 70 died today,” IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora said at a press briefing at her Mohakhali office in the city.
IEDCR Principal Scientific Officer ASM Alamgir was also present at the briefing.
“He was also suffering from a combination of diabetes, hypertension, kidney ailments and high blood pressure. The man got infected after coming in contact with a foreign returnee and he was admitted to a hospital yesterday,” Flora said.
The deceased would be buried in a special way under the supervision of IEDCR, the IEDCR chief said.
Including the deceased person, a total of 14 people have so far been detected with the virus. Of them, first detected three persons were recovered and have been discharged from hospital.
Among the newly detected four persons, one is female while the other three are male, she said. One of them was in contact with a foreign returnee and other two came from Italy and one from Kuwait.
Regarding the safety equipment for the doctors at different hospitals across the country, she said, “I don’t know why doctors are saying that they do not have PPE (Personal Protective Equipments) while we have provided those to the hospitals.”
“There is a crisis of PPE globally,” she said adding, “We have no crisis of PPE at this moment but we need more”. IEDCR received 4,857 phone calls so far, where 4,642 calls were COVID-19 related, a total of 25 people visited the office directly in last 24 hours.
In last 24 hours, the state-run disease monitoring wing tested 49 samples. So far the institution has tested 341 samples.
A total of 16 people have been kept in isolation while 43 are kept in institutional quarantine, she added.
IEDCR has opened an e-mail [email protected] and facebook account– Iedcr,COVID-19 Control Room-where people can get their required information.
The IEDCR director further said process is underway to launch an app which will help people initially to detect the virus by answering some questions.
“As I do every day, I’m discouraging all kinds of public gatherings, meetings and rallies. People also should avoid public transport and try to maintain one-meter distance from one another,” Flora said.
The IEDCR chief reiterated that the suspected people should not go to IEDCR office as no samples would be collected there.
“If needed, one should inform us through the hotline numbers, which are operated by doctors. We will collect samples from the person’s home,” she said.
Bangladesh has adequate stock of essential items, no need for Panic: Minister
Amid reports of panic buying of essential commodities by consumers in Bangladesh, government of Bangladesh has assured that it has adequate stock of these commodities to meet any demand.
The embassy of China in Bangladesh announced on its Facebook page that China would give Bangladesh 10,000 test kits, 15,000 surgical N95 respirators, 10,000 pieces of medical protective clothing and 1,000 infrared thermometers.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his video conferencing with SAARC leaders on Sunday had offered dollar 10 million to create an emergency fund to fight Corona virus in the South Asian region.
Even while Bangladesh government battles the spread of the Corona virus through various means including awareness generation, a large religious gathering has raised concern about the safety of people in the country. Media reported that thousands of people gathered in Raipur town in Southern Bangladesh on Wednesday to recite ‘Khatme Shifa’ or the healing prayers against Coronavirus.
The photos of the gathering have been circulating widely on social media in Bangladesh. The police said that the gathering was organised without seeking permission from the authorities.