Two more coronavirus patients have died in the last 24 hours in the country, taking the death toll from the infection to eight, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said today. Of them, one was 90-year-old, and the other was 68. One of the deceased was under treatment in Dhaka while another was outside the capital. One person had heart disease and had stenting done previously and another had history of stroke.
One of the two patients was also among the nine who tested positive for coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours. Total number of confirmed cases so far in the country is 70.
Among the nine newly-identified patients, two are children under 10, three are aged between 20-30, two between 50-60, one between 60-70, and another a 90-year-old.
The information was disclosed at the regular online press briefing in Dhaka where Prof Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of DGHS, Prof Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), among others, were present.
Prof Flora informed that among the 70 coronavirus-infected patients, 30 have so far recovered and 32 are undergoing treatment.
“Twenty patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals and 12 are under treatment at their homes,” she added.
Describing the infected history of nine fresh cases, she said five have been infected by contracting Covid-19 patients, two came from abroad, but the infected history of two others is yet to be known.
During the briefing Prof Azad said that a total of 553 samples were collected in the last 24 hours, of which 434 were tested.
The DG reiterated about possible community transmission only on a limited scale in the country, adding that they are increasing tests by the day.
He further reiterated that the country has sufficient logistic equipment, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and kits.
“We’ve so far collected 4, 28,060 PPE, and of them, 3,66,650 PPE were distributed at different hospitals of the country, while the remaining are in stock,” he said.
The country had 92,000 test kits, of which 21,000 were distributed at different hospitals, the DG said, adding one lakh more kits will be collected by Wednesday next.
Prof Azad said: “We’ve arranged two types of quarantine – one is home quarantine and another one is institutional quarantine. A total of 64,953 people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine.”
“Of them, 260 were kept at institutional quarantine,” he added.
The DG said 72 people have now been kept at isolation, while 328 released from isolation.
Prof Azad said the government has formed a group of medical professionals comprising 12,779 physicians to provide medicare services to the people. “They’re providing healthcare services through online,” he added.
The DG said the government has opened hotlines and health web portal for providing healthcare services to the people.
He urged the people to contact hotline and mobile numbers – 16263, 333, 10655 and 01944333222 – to receive information and treatment facilities on Covid-19.
