With the confirmation of Bangladesh's first coronavirus patients on March 8, the government has taken multiple steps from closing down educational institutions to cancelling inbound flights, to stop the spread of the deadly virus.
But the question remains: how prepared are we to fight this pandemic as the availability of an adequate number of test kits for detecting coronavirus patients is still a concern?
With the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirming three more patients of Covid-19 yesterday, the total number of infected people in Bangladesh has risen to eight.
Till now, Covid-19, a new strain of coronavirus, has killed over 6,000 people in more than 150 countries.
However, authorities concerned have ensured that they have acquired enough kits to test suspected coronavirus patients and have taken necessary measures to combat the deadly virus.
Earlier last week, Director General (DG) of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Prof Abul Kalam Azad, in replying to a reporter's query, said that they are using a little of their resources as the number of Covid-19 patients here is still low.
He also said that they have finalized four more locations outside Dhaka which will have coronavirus testing facilities.
Talking to the press on Monday, Director of IEDCR Prof Dr Meerjadi Sabrina Flora, without disclosing the number of testing kits on hand, echoed the same.
"We can perform as many as a thousand tests everyday,” she said.
When asked about a scenario where the institute might need to do more than a thousand tests a day, she said: "The prime task is to ensure treatment for those who have symptoms of Covid-19. Conducting tests comes next."
"We have enough coronavirus test kits in stock. We are acquiring additional kits everyday from different agencies. Besides, we have also asked for more test kits," she added.
She said: "The government already has a backup plan if things deteriorate further. We have already identified the places where new testing facilities will be established. But for the time being that is not required."
Testing for Covid-19
The method of testing patients for Covid-19 is no different from that of any other flu.
As it is believed that coronavirus replicates itself in the respiratory tract, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centres for Disease Control therefore recommends samples from deep down one's throat as well as cough up sputum, a mixture of saliva and mucus.
Once someone is suspected to be infected by the virus, an IEDCR team will collect a specimen and send it to the institute for testing.
Dr ASM Alamgir, Principal Scientific Officer (PSO) of Department of Medical Entomology of IEDCR said once a sample arrives at the lab, technicians use a procedure called Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), to look for the genetic code of coronavirus using a special reagent.
At present, IEDCR is using the testing kits supplied by WHO called "PCR Primary Probe Reagent."
According to reports published by CNN, every virus has a unique genetic code called the viral genome. This code, the viral genome, provides the blueprint for the virus as it replicates and the coronavirus test works by determining whether any given specimen contains the distinct coronavirus genome.
IEDCR Director Prof Dr Flora, responding to the demand for bringing in recently developed rapid test kits for detecting Covid-19, said: "But these test kits don't have the approval of WHO and we cannot afford to have any false results now. So we are sticking to the traditional method of testing."
