Yet another 19 doctors, mostly from state-run hospitals, have tested positive for Covid-19 in the 24 hours till 11am on Thursday, raising the tally to 250.
Bangladesh Doctors’ Foundation (BDF), a platform of physicians, revealed the updated figures on Thursday afternoon.
There were 231 confirmed cases of coronavirus positive doctors until 11am on Wednesday.
Dr Nirupam Das, the platform’s founder and chief administrator, said the infected doctors accounted for 12.2% of the total number of registered physicians in the country.
“Along with all other health workers combined, the percentage of infected healthcare professionals stands at a little over 15%, which is higher than that of the US and even Italy,” he said.
Some 11% and 9.7% health professionals have contracted the virus in the US and Italy respectively, two of the six worst-hit countries, Dr Nirupam said.
“Even in our neighbouring country India, the figure is merely 2.2%,” he added.
Bangladesh reported the first death of a doctor diagnosed with Covid-19 on April 15. Earlier on April 12, a doctor died with symptoms similar to Covid-19 in Dhaka.
The number of such infected doctors is on an upward trend amid widespread discontent among healthcare professionals, who have been demanding personal protection equipment (PPE) from the beginning.
The BDF founder himself has been raising the issue repeatedly, stressing the need for PPEs of good quality.
There have recently been several reports in the media questioning the quality of the PPEs distributed among doctors.
A government doctor was issued a show-cause letter the other day for criticising the health authorities on the PPE issue.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday urged government employees not to speak to the media without obtaining permission from the higher authorities.
Earlier, the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery on April 15 ordered all its officials and employees to refrain from speaking in public or to the media without prior permission.
