Health Minister Zahid Maleque has inaugurated a 200-bed dengue ward at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka.
The new initiative comes as the number of dengue patients continues to increase across the country, with hospitals grappling to deliver services to them, particularly in the capital.
In the new ward, 100 beds have been allocated for female patients, according to a press release on Sunday.
The minister told reporters that even though the number of dengue infected people was increasing relatively less than previous days, its threat still persists.
The ward was opened as part of cautionary measures taken to tackle the present dengue situation, he said.
Dengue, a mosquito-borne virus, spreads among humans through its carrier Aedes mosquito.
Alongside the Suhrawardy Hospital, initiatives were taken to admit dengue patients at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery as an extension of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital 2, he said.
Sheikh Rasel Gastroliver Institute and Hospital was also being readied for dengue patients, the minister added.
Health Services Division Secretary Asadul Islam, Medical Education and Family Welfare Division Secretary Shaikh Yusuf Harun, and Director General at Directorate General of Health Services Abul Kalam Azad, among others, were present at the inauguration.