DHAKA, April 28, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh today reported three more deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) overnight and recorded the highest number of 549 fresh positive cases in a single day.
“Three more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 155,” 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 6462 in the same period after another 549 people tested positive for COVID-19 from 4332 samples, the highest in a single day.
This is the biggest single-day spike in new cases since the first COVID-19 cases were detected in Bangladesh on March 8.
Nasima said eight more COVID-19 patients were cured in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 139.
Bangladesh confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, ten days after the detection of the first COVID-19 cases.
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, Nasima added.
She said among the three fatalities, all are in their 60s and all victims are in Dhaka.
Nasima said Bangladesh is witnessing a rapid rise of coronavirus cases since March 24 as 6458 people tested positive for the virus during the time while the number was only 6 from March 8 to March 23 period.
She said a total of 54,733 samples have so far been tested since the detection of first COVID-19 cases in the country.
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 few days.
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 dubbed Dhaka and Narayanganj COVID-19 as “hotspots” as the maximum number of cases were detected in the two cities.
As of April 27, Nasima said, Dhaka city has been considered as the worst-affected with nearly 52.26 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 699 cases till April 27, she said.
It is followed by Gazipur with 315 positive cases, Kishoreganj with 191 cases, Narsingdi with 142 cases, Mymensingh with 108 cases Dhaka district with 85, Munshiganj with 78 cases, Chattogram with 48 cases, Gopalganj with 50, Habiganj with 48 cases and Jamalpur with 45 cases.
The worst hit areas of Dhaka city are Mirpur with 131 cases and Rajarbagh with 110 cases, Mohammadpur 57 with cases, Lalbagh 65 with cases, Jatrabari 69 with cases, Bangshal with 47 cases , Chakbazar 32 with cases, Kakrail with 44 cases, Wari 36 cases, Shahbag, Uttara with 37 cases, Tejgaon with 40 cases, Dhanmondi with 36 cases, Mugda with 41 cases and Mahakhali 42 cases.
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 said as part of the efforts for increasing healthcare facilities to fight COVID-19, the government is taking multiple initiatives across the country to protect lives of the people from the deadly disease.
“There are 9738 isolation beds in the country,” she said, adding 3944 of them are in Dhaka city.
The DGHS said nearly 1,81,793 lakh people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine and over one lakh people were released from quarantine, while the number of people who are currently remain in quarantine is 76,840.
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 16,50,592 PPE so far, of which nearly 13,09148 were distributed and 3,41,444 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 35,58000 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 28, 2020, 10.03 GMT, 211,953 people have died so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and there are 3,076,466 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.