Another person died from coronavirus and 18 more people tested positive for the virus during the last 24 hours, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday.
“The death toll from the virus infection is now nine. Eighteen more people were tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24hours, raising the number of cases to 88,” he said in an online briefing.
The deceased is a 55-year-old man and a resident of Narayanganj, he said.Three new people have recovered from the disease, raising the total number of recoveries to 33.
The minister acknowledged that the return of RMG workers to the capital amid the coronavirus crisis is indeed a terrible act.
“This’s in no way good in the current situation. We’ll make sure this type of incident does not occur again…BGMEA, BKMEA are not under the Health Directorate. So, we cannot control their actions,” he said.
He said this incident may elevated the number of infections. “Workers will be paid their arrears. However, the number of infections can increase because of the influx. The workers will go back home.”
He also mentioned that now this is the time to be more cautious as the country has seen the highest number of infected patients in a single day. “We cannot let coronavirus situation to worsen. If we don’t become aware right now, the situation in the country might be like in the USA and Europe.”
The minister further said the national committee cannot intervene in the decisions of private organisations.
“The national committee formed to handle the coronavirus crisis is monitoring public transportations, lockdowns and health service-related affairs,” he added.
Zahid Maleque noted that controversial chloroquine medicine will be used to treat COVID-19 patients.He also expressed the hope that the number of daily tests across country to be increased to 1000 soon.
Director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora said there are five clusters across the country which are Mirpur, Basabo, Narayanganj, Madaripur and Gaibandha.
“These clusters have a higher number of patients than the rest of the countries…In Basabo, 11 patients have been identified and the same in Mirpur area. We’re closely monitoring the cluster areas and taking necessary actions. You can say there’s currently cluster-based community transmission of the disease,” she said.
Dr Flora warned that widespread community transmission might start if public gathering is not stopped.Prof Flora mentioned that among the 18 new infected patients, 12 are from Dhaka, five from Narayanganj and one is from Madaripur. Fifteen of them are male and the rest are female.
In the past 24 hours, 367 samples have been tested with 14 PCR testing facilities in the country. 13 among the 18 new infections were identified in IEDCR.In the last 24 hours, 111 more people have been quarantined across the country.
source: UNB
