ZCZC
BSS-25
COVID-19-BRIEFING LEAD
Bangladesh reports 7 more deaths, 497 fresh positive cases from COVID-19
(updates with more information)
DHAKA, April 27, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh today reported seven more deaths, including a child, from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 497 fresh positive cases overnight.
“Seven more COVID-19 patients, including a child, died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 152,” DGHS Additional Director General (administration) Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in the city.
She said the tally of infections has soared to 5913 in the same period after another 497 people tested positive for COVID-19 from 3,812 samples.
Nasima said nine more COVID-19 patients were cured in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 131.
Among the COVID-19-infected cases, most of them are taking treatment from their homes and many patients are being cured every day after receiving treatment from there, she added.
Bangladesh confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, ten days after the detection of the first COVID-19 cases. The health official said among the seven fatalities, one is child age below 10 years, while five in their 60s and one in his 40s. Of them, five are in Dhaka city and one each in Sylhet and Rajshahi, she said.
Nasima said Bangladesh is witnessing a rapid rise of coronavirus cases since March 24 as 5907 people tested positive for the virus during the time while the number was only 6 from March 8 to March 23.
She said a total of 50,401 samples have so far been tested since the detection of first COVID-19 cases in the country, adding: “We tested 3812 samples in the past 24 hours.”
The health official informed that at present, there are 25 labs in the country for testing samples of COVID-19, adding, three more labs will be set up within a week.
Nasima said COVID-19 cases were found in 60 districts meaning that almost all regions of the country are now risky for the fatal disease.
She said Jhenidah district has been freshly included in the list of the COVID-19-prone districts, adding no cases are yet to be reported in four districts – Rangamati, Khagrachchari, Natore and Satkhira.
She dubbed Dhaka and Narayanganj COVID-19 as “hotspots” as the maximum number of cases were detected in the two cities.
As of April 26, Nasima said, Dhaka city has been considered as the worst-affected with nearly 52.01 percent of COVID cases, while Dhaka division has remained top position with 85 percent infected cases out of total coronavirus patients.
Among the 60 districts infected by COVID-19, Narayanganj is the most hardest-hit district with 625 cases till April 26, she said.
It is followed by Gazipur with 308 positive cases, Kishoreganj with 183, Narsingdi with 142, Mymensingh with 92 cases Dhaka district with 79, Munshiganj with 72 cases, Gopalganj with 49 and Chattogram with 48 cases.
In Dhaka city, Rajarbagh, Mohammadpur, Lalbagh, Jatrabari, Bangsal, Chakbazar, Mirpur-14 , Kakrail, Wari, Shahbag, Uttara, Tejgaon and Mahakhali – have been identified the worst hit as the maximum number of positive cases were found in those areas, she said.
According to the age-group, 10 percent COVID-19 cases are in their 60s, 15 percent in their 50s, 18 percent in their 40s, 22 percent in their 30s, 24 percent in their 20s while eight percent is above 10 years and 3 percent below 10 years, Nasima added.
The health official said as coronavirus outbreak is on the rising trend in the country, the government has intensified its efforts including further extending general holidays till May 5, collecting quality logistics medical materials and increasing healthcare facilities to fight the pandemic.
“We have sufficient stock of testing kits… the government is importing testing kits on regular basis as it is very essential medical tool to determine coronavirus cases,” she said.
Nasima mentioned that two types of kits are needed for detection of COVID-19 cases. “Among them, one type is used for collecting samples of suspected virus cases while another type is used at COVID-19 testing labs,” she explained.
The health official termed all people are COVID-19 fighters, saying physicians, nurses, health workers and medical technologists are the frontliners to battle the pandemic.
Medical professionals alongside other people are working relentlessly to deal the COVID-19 patients and curbe the spread of deadly virus, she said, adding many of them have already been infected by it.
The DGHS said nearly 1.79 lakh people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine and nearly 1,01,722 people were released from quarantine, while the number of people who are currently remain in quarantine is 77,679.
It said a total of 601 institutions have been prepared across the country for keeping over 30,635 people in quarantine, adding nearly 12,20 people have now been kept in isolation.
The health service organization said as part of taking preventative measures to stop imported cases of COVID-19, the authorities of all gateways, including airports, land ports and waterways, are continuing screening of all foreign returnees.
It said the government has collected 15, 67,057 PPE so far, of which nearly 12,91,098 were distributed and 2,75,959 are in stock.
The DGHS said the government is strictly maintaining standard of all kinds of protective equipment including PPE, surgical masks and gloves to ensure safety of medical professionals.
It said in case of critical COVID-19 patients, special facilities including oxygen, ICU and dialysis units are needed in hospitals. At present, the country has 341 ICUs and 102 dialysis units, it added.
The DGHS sources said till today, nearly 34,69,389 people received healthcare services from hotline mobile numbers and health web portals as the government formed a group of medical professionals to provide emergency health services.
The contact hotline and mobile numbers are 16263; 333; 10655 and 01944333222 – to receive information and treatment facilities on COVID-19.
As of April 27, 2020, 10.42 GMT, 207,265 people have died so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and there are 3,007,194 currently confirmed cases in 210 countries and territories, according to Worldomete, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.
China was the world’s first country which on January 11 reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province.
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