As the coronavirus courses through the world, around 963 people returning from overseas in the last couple of weeks have gone in self-quarantine in 20 districts of Bangladesh.
They include 648 in Chandpur, 169 in Manikganj, 65 in Kishoreganj, 11 in Narayanganj, 9 in Narsingdi, 8 in Natore, 7 in Jessore, 7 in Chittagong, 6 in Rajbari, 6 in Kurigram, 5 in Keraniganj, 5 in Nilphamari, 4 in Jhalakathi, 4 in Bogra, 3 in Jamalpur, 2 in Mymensingh, 1 in Habiganj, 1 in Noakhali, 1 in Narail, and 1 in Khulna.
People returning from overseas are instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, said Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora.
“Anyone exhibiting symptoms of the virus, instead of directly coming in, one should immediately call on the IEDCR hotline, so that health care workers may first collect samples for the test,” she told reporters on Friday at Directorate General of Health Services’ new building in Dhaka’s Mohakhali.
Meanwhile, amid the rising number of infected and victims worldwide, district civil surgeons have expressed optimism over the fact that they have not positively confirmed more cases, other than the three, of coronavirus patient and are satisfied with the overall awareness of the public.
Dhaka district Civil Surgeon Dr Abu Hasan Md Moinul Ahsan said: “The people returning from abroad are keeping themselves in home quarantine as per government directives.
“There is one health committee in each upazila monitoring the people coming from overseas and contacting their relatives to provide necessary directives.”
“It is a positive indication that people are aware and are constantly making contacts and receiving directives.”
“So far there haven’t been any more confirmed cases of coronavirus outside Narayanganj, so there is no need to worry or panic.”
Meanwhile, district administrations have already begun preparing hospitals against the spread of coronavirus.
Two 100-bed hospitals are being constructed to isolate positively confirmed coronavirus patients in Narayanganj and Jamalpur respectively.
Jamalpur Civil Surgeon Dr Gautam Roy said: “We have made preparations against coronavirus in all the district hospitals.”
“As of yet, we have not found a case of the coronavirus; the three that returned here from Malaysia, Iran, and Italy are in self-quarantine.”
Quarantine vs Isolation
Self-quarantine is when you feel fine, but you separate yourself from others because there’s a high chance you’ve been exposed to the disease.
Whereas, Isolation is when you avoid people because you have symptoms of a disease and you don’t want to get others sick.
In practice however, they look pretty similar.
They have the same end game, which is that you are sequestered from the rest of the public for a period of time.
If you have cold and flu-like symptoms, you should isolate yourself from others for the duration of your symptoms, which could be up to 14 days.