The number of patients in private hospitals in the country, particularly in Dhaka, has declined drastically due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
A few patients have been going to hospitals to receive treatment, with officials saying that the number has plunged to more than half in comparison with the figures on usual days.
The thin presence of patients has also made the authorities of the hospitals worried about their organizations.
The government, meanwhile, declared a 10-day shutdown effective from March 26 to April 4 to combat the spread of the coronavirus. As part of the effort, the authorities imposed a travel ban on all modes of transport – rail, road, air, and waterways – across the country.
Most of the patients, except those who are suffering from severe illness, are not willing to come to hospitals due to a shortage of transport and fear of Covid-19 transmission.
Alongside, physicians and nurses are also not interested in joining their workplaces citing the same reason, officials said, adding that a lack of adequate number of personal protective equipment (PPE) has also increased their fears.
Md Rashed, a customer service officer of Square Hospitals Ltd in Panthapath, said: "How will a patient come to hospital without transport? The number of patients is less than half that in normal times due to the shutdown and social distancing.
"The number of surgeries has also decreased. It is difficult to run a hospital only with emergency patients.
"Like others, doctors and staff are also human beings and they have fears of Covid-19 transmission as doctors closely examine a patient. Thus, some doctors and staff are refraining from coming to hospitals. They are on leave." he added.
Officials of the private hospitals said they were now dealing with non-communicable disease patients, and doing surgeries which were unavoidable, like caesarean, neuro and cardiac surgeries. The health facilities are avoiding patients who have respiratory problems.
Number of outpatients has reduced dramatically
During normal periods, around 900 patients on average received treatment daily at the outdoor of United Hospital, while the number now stands between 70 and 90.
Dr Shagufa Anwar, director and chief of communication and business development of the hospital in Gulshan, said: "When a patient comes to us with respiratory problems we refer the individual to IEDCR [Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research] for Covid-19 test because we have no mandate to do the test as the epidemic is being centrally monitored by the government.
"We have serious cardiac and kidney patients along with patients with cancer. We are continuing dialysis and radio therapies. If we receive patients who have symptoms of Covid-19, it could be fatal for other patients.
"The number of admitted patients is 100 to 150 nowadays though the number was around 260 in normal periods in the hospital," she added.
While visiting different private hospitals, this correspondent found few patients and their attendants at the health facilities with hidden fears of being infected with coronavirus.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official of the customer service section at Lab Aid Specialized Hospital in Dhanmondi said over telephone that the number of patients had dwindled to more than half.
The chambers of some doctors are closed and they are not coming to hospital due to fears of infection, he said.
In the circumstances, some hospitals are making new duty rosters for doctors and staff.
Dr Shagufa said: "Some health professionals have got infected [with the virus in the country] which has made us worried. [That is why] we made a duty roster where some physicians and staff will attend hospitals and some will do their duties online from home by turn.
"The number of patients has gone down but not the costing. However, we are providing PPE to all doctors and staff and arranging workshops for purposes of safety," she added.
As of Monday, Bangladesh has so far recorded five deaths and 49 infections from Covid-19, a pandemic announced by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The fast spreading coronavirus, which was first reported in China's Wuhan, has claimed more than 34,800 lives and infected over 735,000 people across the world, according to Worldometer.
More than 156,000 people have recovered from the virus, which has spread to 199 countries and territories.