Two doctors are getting infected every hour on average while fighting against the novel coronavirus at both government and private hospitals across the country.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF), a forum of physicians, as they presented their daily briefing that concentrates on how physicians, as well as other healthcare professionals, are handling things.
“Altogether 49 doctors tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours till 5am on Tuesday, bringing the total of number of doctors infected with the virus in Bangladesh so far to 422,” said Nirupam Das, the chief administrator of the foundation.
An alarming 308 doctors – to clarify, these are just physicians, not counting nurses or healthcare professionals – have been infected with the virus in Dhaka division alone, with 191 of them from government hospitals, 97 affiliated to private hospitals and the remaining 20 falling under ‘Other’.
The second-worst division for doctors – after Dhaka, although way behind – has been Mymensingh with 46 physicians got infected; Chattogram with 14, Khulna on 13, Barishal with 10, 6 in Sylhet, 5 in Rangpur and 20 others whose locations were not captured on the system.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s own numbers , the country had just 6 doctors, nurses, and midwives – essentially 6 healthcare workers for every 10,000 people until July, 2019.
Asked about the safety of doctors while treating coronavirus patients, Dr Nirupam on Saturday said there is no alternative to personal protective equipment (PPE), quality gowns, masks, gloves and goggles for doctors’ safety.
BDF has 90,000 members across the country, Dr Nirupam informed, all of them registered physicians. Bangladesh on Monday recorded 5,913 coronavirus cases and 152 deaths.UNB
