Two more coronavirus patients detected: IEDCR

Bangladesh on Tuesday confirmed detection of two more coronavirus patients, taking the total number of cases to 10.At a regular press briefing, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora said both new patients were male and one of them was in quarantine.
These are imported cases, she said.
“One of them is from Italy who was quarantined and another is from US who was hospitalised earlier with coronavirus symptoms,” said Dr Flora.
In the last 24 hours, IEDCR tested 36 people. The total number of people in isolation is now 16.
She added that through contact tracing, family members and those who were around the latter patient will be identified and quarantined.
Earlier, Dr Flora said so far 277 people have been tested for coronavirus and 43 are in institutional quarantine.
“Within the last 24 hours, IEDCR hotlines received 4,205 calls. Of these, 4,164 were related to coronavirus,” she added.
When talking about the effectiveness of home quarantine of the expatriates to contain the disease, the IEDCR Director said they have been following the WHO procedures.
“Our mobile teams are monitoring home quarantined people across country with the help of local administrations,” she said.
She also assured that the government is taking necessary steps to ensure proper treatment for everyone if the situation worsens.
“Within Dhaka, ICUs and hospitals are being prepared for Covid-19 treatment…150 ICUs are currently ready,” said Dr Flora.
She said IEDCR is capable to test a large number of people for coronavirus infection.
“We’re reiterating that IEDCR is capable of carrying out tests on 1,000 people a day to identify the infected…We’ve ensured that the supply of testing kits remain uninterrupted,” she added.
Dr Flora said IEDCR will ensure institutional quarantine for those incapable of staying quarantined at home.
She noted that the IEDCR is working to identify any sign of community transmission of the disease.
“We’ve been testing atypical pneumonia cases as the symptoms have similarities with Covid-19…if necessary, specialist from abroad can be called,” she said.
Dr Flora requested everyone who has symptoms like coughing and sneezing not to use public transports.
On Monday, IEDCR reported three new cases and confirmed that the virus has started transmitting locally.
The global death toll from coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic climbed to 7,164 on Tuesday. The disease has so far infected 182,550 people around the world, according to worldometer, reports UNB.