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Govt bins allegations on preparation to tackle Covid-19
By Sajjad Hossain Sabuj and Morshadur Rahman
DHAKA, April 3, 2020 (BSS) – The government has trashed allegations by some quarters regarding prior preparation to combat novel coronavirus (Covid-19), saying that it (government) acted very seriously from the very outset of this global crisis to halt the outbreak of the lethal disease in Bangladesh.
“It’s not true at all that we didn’t take any prior preparation to stem the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. The fact is that we took prompt steps at the directives of honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina soon after the deadly virus first emerged in China in December last year,” Director General of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) Professor Dr Abul Kalam Azad told BSS on Thursday.
He said when the entire world, including developed countries, is battling against coronavirus pandemic to protect the mankind from the fatal disease, Bangladesh is at that time on the right track to curb the outbreak of the Covid-19.
Elaborating the government’s relentless strides to fight the Covid-19, the DGHS director general said: “We started screening the suspects at the airport, along with the arrangement of dedicated quarantine zones for people arriving from the affected countries since January.”
Prof Azad said measures have been taken to keep all the passengers arriving from abroad from March 19 in compulsory quarantine under the army.
“Ashkona Haji Camp and Ijtema Maidan at Tongi are being run for quarantine under the supervision of the army,” he said.
The top government health official said 6,66,931 overseas returnees have been brought under screening, adding that the authorities concerned are continuing screening those coming from abroad.
Prof Azad informed that the government has already stopped the on-arrival visa and asked Bangladesh missions abroad not to grant visas to any foreign national.
He said a high-powered national committee, headed by the health minister and incorporating the task forces of different compositions, was formed to tackle the different dimensions of the spread of Covid-19 and its challenges.
Apart from it, he said, committees were constituted at city corporation, municipality, district, upazila and union-levels for prevention of the disease.
“We prepared designated hospitals, and equipped our health professionals with necessary facilities,” he said.
Prof Azad said the government shut down all educational institutions in the country, locked down infection-prone areas to prevent community transmission and advised the people to stay home.
He mentioned that the government also closed down all public and private offices and activities, except emergency services, to curb the spread of the virus for 14 days since the 26th March.
“We’re unceasingly conducting a mass awareness campaign against the Covid-19 since January to protect our people from this lethal virus,” he said.
Prof Azad said six hospitals have been prepared in Dhaka for coronavirus patients, while arrangements were underway to treat coronavirus patients in five more hospitals in the capital.
“Separate beds have been kept ready for such patients in district and upazila-level hospitals,” he said.
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Prof Azad said 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 on the stock,” he said.
“We’ve arranged two types of quarantine – one is home quarantine and another one is institutional quarantine. A total of 64,484 people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine,” the DGHS director general said.
“Of them, 248 were kept at institutional quarantine,” he added.
A total of 48,031 people have so far been released from quarantine, Prof Azad said, adding now 16,450 people have been kept at quarantine.
“As many as 323 institutions are being prepared for keeping 18,900 people in quarantine,” he said.
The DGHS director general said a total of 14 institutions, including nine in Dhaka, are conducting samples tests in the country for ensuring quick confirmation of Covid-19 cases.
“In Dhaka, nine Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratories — labs equipped to test for coronavirus — have been set up which have started testing while the number outside Dhaka is five,” he said.
Prof Azad also said within the first week of April, all the divisions will have at least one PCR laboratory and at the end of the month “we expect to set up and get running a total of 28 laboratories all over the country.”
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque earlier said the government has prepared 200 ICU units for Covid-19 patients, while 11 labs have been set up for testing samples of suspected coronavirus cases.
“As many as 28 more labs will be set up as part our efforts for expanding Covid-19 test facilities across the country,” he said.
Referring to the meeting with WHO officilas through a videoconference, Maleque said both the WHO and the United Nations have lauded the initiatives of Bangladesh to fend off the lethal disease.
“After detection of coronavirus cases in China, we have taken necessary preparations since the first week of January this year to contain the disease in the country,” he added.
The minister said sufficient equipment has been provided for safety of medical professionals, and there is adequate stock of protective gear including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
“At present, there is a total of 500 ventilators at the government hospitals, while the number of ventilators at private hospitals is 700, and we’ve expanded testing laboratory facilities to divisional level,” he said.
Dr Habibur Rahman, director (management information system) of DGHS, said the government has prepared 6,200 isolation beds in eight districts in the country.
He said the country has 92,000 test kits, of which 20,000 have been distributed at different hospitals.
“We’ve set a 17-point health guideline including arrangement of isolation and quarantine, proper utilization of PPE, taking initiatives for ensuring hygienic environment to fight Covid-19,” he added.
Dr Rahman said the government has formed a group of medical professionals comprising 12,448 physicians to provide medicare services to the people.
“They’re voluntarily providing treatment to the people through mobile phone … the number of such medical professionals is increasing every day” he added.
Director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora said the government has set up a coordinated control room comprising different committees at the Director General of Health Services.
“These committees under the control room are working round the clock to provide healthcare services to the people to protect them from the disease,” Prof Flora said.
Alongside the coordinated control room, she said, the government has set up a control room at the Prime Minister’s Office, while another control room has been established at the health ministry to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
“As part of the countrywide measures, we’ve also set up control rooms at district and upazila levels to ensure quick access of the people to healthcare facilities,” the IEDCR director said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh today confirmed detection of five fresh Covid-19 patients overnight, raising the number of the confirmed coronavirus cases to 61, while its toll remained static at six.
“Five more persons have tested positive with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the number of the confirmed cases to 61,” Health Minister Zahid Maleque told a virtual media briefing at the DGHS.
Among the 61, he added, a total of 26 people returned home after being cured from the disease.
As of April 03, 2020, 10:39 GMT, 54,198 people have died so far from the Covid-19 outbreak and there are currently 1,030,205 confirmed cases in 204 countries and territories, according to Worldometer which provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.
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