Mercury in Dinajpur dropped to 6.5°C on Wednesday, with the temperature hovering between 7°C-10°C for the past ten days.
Bone-chilling winds are blowing at speeds of 2-3 kilometres per hour.
The bitter cold is forcing people to stay at home. The daily wage earners are the worst sufferer as they cannot go out for work due to a lack of warm clothes.
As the roads are covered in fog from evening to morning, vehicles operate with headlights on even during the day, with dewdrops falling like rain.
Dinajpur met office's Md Asaduzzaman said the temperature may remain the same for another 1-2 days.
The number of children and elderly patients with cold-related diseases is increasing in hospitals. Doctors and nurses have been struggling to attend to all of them.
Dhaka TribuneChildren are suffering from various diseases including pneumonia, diarrhoea and respiratory infections. The elderly are also similarly affected.
Dinajpur M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital has 50 beds and Dinajpur Sadar Hospital has 30 beds, but additional patients affected by cold-related diseases are being admitted, putting immense pressure on the district's healthcare system.
Dinajpur's Aurobindo Shishu Hospital has 100 beds, but as many as 140 children have been getting treatment here. An average of 45 children are being treated outdoors every day.
Dinajpur Civil Surgeon Dr AHM Borhan Ul Isalm Siddiqui said Dinajpur Medical College Hospital and Sadar Hospital with 50 beds have enough government-allocated medicine.
“Including wearing clean clothes, parents should be aware so that children and the elderly do not get cold,” he said.
