DHAKA, March 9, 2020 (BSS) – Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control
and Research (IEDCR) today said no new coronavirus (COVID-19) case was
detected in the past 24 hours since it announced the first three cases while
the condition of the three infected persons were stable as they were being
monitored at a hospital.
“The conditions of three persons those tested positive with COVID-19 are
stable in hospital, no new cases have been found in the country… there is
no need to take any measures to shut down educational institutions as the
situation is still normal,” IEDCR Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora said
these at a press briefing at IEDCR auditorium in city’s Mohakhali area today.
Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Abul
Kalam Azad, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the country Dr
Bardan Jung Rana and Principal Scientific Officer of IEDCR Dr ASM Alamgir
were present at the briefing.
Prof Azad at the briefing said separate units will be opened at public
hospitals across the country, while separate cells will be opened in private
hospitals.
He also urged all not to get involved in the chaos regarding face masks and
hand sanitizers, adding, shortage of these products will be mitigated very
soon.
DGHS chief urged people not to panic and not to spread any rumors regarding
this.
Ensuring all kind of support from WHO, its country representative Dr Rana
hoped Bangladesh will set an example in tackling the virus by its all out
effort.
Emphasizing on self quarantine, IEDCR) Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora
suggested foreign returnees to stay in the self quarantine. They should not
be humiliated by anyone, Flora requested.
“We all have to act responsibly and should not be over curious. There is no
reason to assume that anyone coming from abroad is infected with the
coronavirus,” she said.
Requesting people to be sympathized with the family members and neighbours
of foreign returnees, Dr Flora said, “We are repeatedly saying that all the
people returning from other countries are not infected with the coronavirus.
We are continuously saying this because those coming from abroad are facing
odd situations here,”
Speakers at the briefing also urged not to spread any kind of wrong
information and fear in the country through social media.
People also asked to contact four hotline numbers -01937110011,
01937000911, 01927711784 and 01927711785 – to solve any type of confusion or
support.
Earlier on March 8, IEDCR confirmed three Bangladeshis, two male and one
female, have been detected with coronavirus (COVID-19).
Among the three, two of them had returned from Italy recently, she said
yesterday.
Earlier on March 4, in a bid to control the spread of COVID-19, the
government restricted the entry of people from four countries — Italy, South
Korea, Japan and Kuwait — without the virus-free medical certificates.