Bangladesh’s death toll from coronavirus has risen to 50 with four more deaths, while the country recorded its highest single-day increase with 219 new cases in the last 24 hours.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 1,231.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque made the announcements during the daily online health bulletin by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Wednesday.
Two of the deceased were over 70 years, one was a 50-year-old and another was aged between 35 and 40. The last mentioned person was also a cancer patient.
Among the deceased, three were males and one was female.
At the same time, seven people have fully recovered, taking the number of recovered cases in the country to 49.
The DGHS bulletin also said in the last 24 hours, 1,740 samples were tested, taking the total number of tests conducted in the country to 14,888.
The minister expressed his condolences to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital Dr Md Moyeen Uddin’s family.
Dr Moyeen died this morning at Kurmitola General Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 on April 5.
“I feel as if one of our brothers, our fellow fighter, has succumbed to death. He got infected while treating other Covid-19 patients,” he said.
The minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had expressed her deepest condolences and said she would stand by Dr Moyeen’s family.
The minister said 20 testing facilities were now operational across the country.
“Many of you are reluctant to get tested. It is a crisis. These people are going to infect their families and doctors,” said the minister.
He said the 2000-bed Bashundhara Convention Center would soon be ready to tackle the increasing numbers of Covid-19 patients across the country.
Dhaka North City Corporation is setting up a 1300-bed makeshift hospital while 1200 more beds will be placed in four buildings in Diabari area in the capital.
He said the health authorities would use Mugda Medical College Hospital, the old burns unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Nagar Hospital and Railway Hospital to treat Covid-19 patients.
He also said each division in the country had an intensive care unit (ICU) with 200 beds.
Two private hospitals - Anwar Medical College Hospital and Shahabuddin Medical College Hospital - will also treat Covid-19 patients. Each has a 1200-bed capacity.
The minister said the authorities had been struggling to purchase ventilators as the whole world was experiencing a shortage of this machine.
As more people are getting infected in Narayanganj, Mirpur, Bashabo, Gazipur, Mymensingh, and Keraniganj, the health minister said the law enforcement agencies would strictly impose lockdowns in those areas.
At the briefing, DGHS Director General Dr Abul Kalam Azad said seven people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Dinajpur had gone there from Dhaka and Narayanganj earlier.
“We might not get a single patient in some areas but in some areas the number of patients might rise or fall. We will take measures accordingly as we get that data in our hands,” he said.
He also said the government was bearing the cost of Covid-19 patients’ treatment.
Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general (admin) of DGHS, said 2048 samples had been collected in the last 24 hours.
In the last 24 hours, a total of 71 people were placed in isolation while 11,228 people were home quarantined and 542 sent to institutional quarantine in the last 24 hours.
She also said 488 institutes had been set up as institutional quarantine facilities where 26,212 people could be quarantined.
In the last 24 hours, 15,400 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were collected and 72,200 PPEs had been distributed while a total of 4,58,322 PPEs remained in stock, she said.
In Gopalganj, a woman died with coronavirus symptoms as she was suffering from breathing problems in a local hospital at Tungipara upazila Wednesday morning.
Confirming the death, Dr Md Jashim Uddin of Tungipara Upazila Health Complex said her blood sample was sent for Covid-19 testing. “She died within 15 minutes after getting admitted at the hospital with severe breathing problems,” he said.
Meanwhile, district administrations have decided to put various areas of several districts under lockdown on Wednesday until further notice to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Shariatpur, Rangpur and Naogaon districts were put under complete lockdown, while parts of Bagerhat, Chittagong, Kurigram and Dinajpur were placed under lockdown.