At least 55 members of Rapid Action Battalion have been infected with coronavirus in Narayanganj.
Lt Cl Imran Ullah Sarkar, commanding officer of Rab-11, confirmed the development, saying they tested positive for Covid-19 in recent days despite not having any symptom like that of the virus.
The infected members underwent treatment at two isolation centers: one installed at the Rab-11 Headquarters in Siddhirganj and the other at Crime Prevention Special Company in Kalir Bazar, said Lt Cl Imran, adding that they are now doing well.
The fact that they received treatment may mean they weren’t asymptomatic but rather pre-symptomatic at the time they tested positive.
Rab members have to undergo several precautionary tests as they frequently come in contact with masses while discharging duties amid the ongoing coronavirus fallout.
Otherwise the 55 may not have been identified, since the standard testing protocol is to test those with symptoms.
Following the announcement of the holidays on March 24, the government deployed members of all law-enforcing agencies and armed forces to ensure social distancing, which in the absence of a vaccine or any other pharmaceutical intervention, has been at a premium to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
But most of them were not provided with necessary protective gears, putting their lives at risk.
Bangladesh has so far recorded 10,143 coronavirus cases and 182 deaths.The virus, first reported in China in December last year, has infected 3,426,711 people and killed 243,795 of them in 187 countries, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center (till Monday evening BdST).UNB
