440 BD physicians infected with coronavirus: Doctors’ Forum

As coronavirus continues to spread across the country, 440 doctors of both private and public hospitals have so far been infected with the virus as of Wednesday, said Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF), a forum of physicians.

“Among the infected doctors, 316 are in Dhaka division alone,” said Nirupam Das, the chief administrator of the foundation.Among the total infected doctors, 18 tested positive for the deadly virus in a span of 24 hours, he added.

Of the total, 303 are from different government hospitals, 100 from private hospitals while 37 were shown in other category in the BDF data.

The BDF data reveal that 48 doctors were infected in Mymensingh division , while 14 in Chattogram, 24 in Khulna, 10 in Barishal, six in Sylhet and five in Rangpur division.

Asked about the safety of doctors while treating Covid-19 patients, Dr Nirupam said there is no alternative to personal protective equipment (PPE), quality gowns, masks, gloves and goggles for doctors’ safety.

Dr Nirupom also said doctors should be careful while opening the personal safety gears after closing the duty at coronavirus hospitals.Bangladesh has so far reported 163 fatalities and 7,103 coronavirus cases.

source: UNB