Almost half of those who have been infected with Covid-19 in Narsingdi are health professionals, according to data from police.
A total 56 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the district as of Thursday, including 27 health professionals. Among the infected health professionals, 12 are from the district Civil Surgeon’s Office, 12 more are from the six government hospitals, and the remaining three are from private clinics.
Five of the infected health professionals are doctors, while the rest are nurses, technicians, pathologists or other workers. Narsingdi 100-bed General Hospital, Narsingdi Sadar Hospital, Narsingdi Sadar Upazila Health Complex, Shibpur Upazila Health Complex and Monohordi Sadar Community Clinic are among the institutions where the health professionals worked.
The district authorities are facing shortages of physicians, pathologists and technicians due to the infections. However, the Civil Surgeon’s Office has hired private pathologists and technicians to make up the shortage.
Dr Abu Kawsar Suman, coordinator of the Covid-19 response in Narsingdi district, said: “We are under a lot of pressure as many physicians, nurses and other health professionals have been infected. A technician has also tested Covid-19 positive, which may slow down the sample collection process.
“However, we have hired seven technicians from private clinics, and they are already trained. They will be deployed for sample collection from [yesterday],” he added.
He also said they were working to coordinate between the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Narsingdi District Police and the Civil Surgeon’s Office in order to ensure the required support from the district administration and police.
Furthermore, about 30% of the total infected in the district is people who had come into close contact with the infected health professionals, such as their relatives, house keepers, drivers and cleaners.
The first Covid-19 case in Narsingdi was confirmed by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) on April 8. The patient had visited Narsingdi Sadar Hospital as well as the private chamber of a doctor in the district.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 1,838 coronavirus cases and 75 deaths from the highly contagious virus as of Friday. The first three cases in the country were reported on March 8 and the first death on March 18.
The fast spreading SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which caused Covid-19 and was first reported in China's Wuhan, has claimed 147,360 lives and infected 2,192,459 people across the world till 3:20pm on Friday, according to Worldometer.
As many as 554,214 people have recovered from Covid-19, which has spread to 210 countries and territories across the planet.
