This week marks 30 days since Bangladesh reported the first Covid-19 positive case on March 8. Since then, the total number of Covid-19 cases stands at 330, with the death toll at 21 as of Thursday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services of Bangladesh (DGHS).
Bangladesh registered its highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day, with 112 new cases—70 males and the rest females-- in a 24-hour span until 8am Thursday.
Spread across 21 districts
The Covid-19 infection has now spread to 21 districts, with the highest number of patients in Dhaka and Naryanganj.
Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), termed these two cities as Covid-19 “hotspots” in an online videoconference on Thursday.
In addition, Covid-19 positive patients were also reported in Nilphamari, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Tangail, Sylhet, Maulvibazar, Kishoreganj, Gazipur, Narsindhi, Chuadanga, Rajbari, Manikganj, Comilla, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Chittagong, and Cox’s Bazar districts.
6,175 tests so far
Bangladesh has tested samples from 6,175 people. Among the 330 who tested positive for the disease, 33 have returned home after recovery, while the rest are undergoing treatment.
The number of conducted tests remained below 100 per day till March 25, a day before the government imposed a shutdown to encourage people to stay at home in order to minimize the spread of coronavirus infections.
Following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directive to perform as many tests as possible per day, the number of positive cases has risen since April 2.
Tests done in 16 institutes
According to a DGHS tally, nine institutions in Dhaka and seven outside Dhaka have been conducting tests for Covid-19. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Dhaka Medical College, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives, Institute of Public Health (IPH), Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), and the National Institute of Laboratory Medicine are conducting the tests in Dhaka.
These institutions have done 4,968 tests until Wednesday.
Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar Medical College, Mymensing Medical College, Rajshahi Medical College, Rangpur Medical College, Sylhet Osmani Medical College, and Khulna Medical College are also conducting Covid-19 tests. These hospitals have tested 1,207 people so far.
71,000 test kits and 418,932 PPE in stock
The DGHS claimed they had collected 913,576 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and 92,000 test kits. Among those, some 494,644 PPE and 21,000 test kits have been distributed across the country, while some 418,932 PPE and 71,000 test kits remain in stock.
69,810 people put in quarantine
Health authorities have put a total of 69,810 people in quarantine: 69,191 in home quarantine and 619 in institutional quarantine.
A total of 59,023 of them have already completed their 14-day quarantine period. Till Wednesday, 10,787 people were in quarantine.
According to the DGHS, a total of 135 patients are in isolation as of Thursday.
550 ventilators ready to serve, 380 being prepared
During the online videoconference, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said more than 550 ventilators had been prepared to treat coronavirus patients.
“The process to procure 380 more ventilators is under process,” he said.
The minister went on saying that a number of buildings are being set up as isolation units.
"A building, owned by Bashundhara Group, with 2,000-bed isolation facilities is being prepared. Moreover, a market in the DNCC area will also be prepared with 1,400-bed isolation facilities," he added.
7,693 isolation beds prepared
Additional Director General (ADG) of DGHS Prof Dr Sania Tahmina said the government had so far prepared 7,693 isolation beds at different hospitals across the country.
Meanwhile, the global death toll from coronavirus was more than 88,500 as of Thursday morning, according to Worldometer.
Also, over 1,518,700 people have been infected around the world since the highly contagious disease was first reported in China in December last year.
