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529 doctors, nurses infected so far


Published : 25 Apr 2020 09:16 PM | Updated : 03 Sep 2020 11:13 AM

A number of 529 doctors and nurses working at different government and private hospitals across the country have been infected so far by the deadly coronavirus in their fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Of them, 324 are physicians and 205 are nurses, said sources.
The deadly coronavirus which has spread to 60 districts of the country, out of 64, has infected 324 physicians both at private and public hospitals as of Saturday, said Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF), a forum of physicians, reports UNB.

“Among the infected doctors, 255 are in Dhaka division alone,” said Nirupam Das, the chief administrator of the foundation. 

Of the total, 163 are from different government hospitals, 76 from private hospitals while 20 were shown in other category in the BDF data. 

The BDF data show that 26 doctors were infected in Mymensingh division and all of them are from government hospitals while 12 doctors -- 11 from government hospitals and one from a private hospital -- were in Chattogram division.

Meanwhile, seven doctors in Khulna division, eight in Barishal, two in Sylhet and three in Rangpur division have so far been diagnosed with Covid-19. 

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.

Bangladesh has so far confirmed 140 deaths and 4,998 coronavirus cases. Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana in the daily health bulletin on Saturday informed that coronavirus has spread to 60 districts in the country except Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Jhenidah and Satkhira.

Meanwhile, Society for Nurses Safety and Rights general secretary Sabbir Mahmud Tihan told Bangladesh Post on Saturday, “So far, around 205 nurses from different government and private hospitals have been found positive for coronavirus.” 

“Of them, 133 are from government hospitals and 72 are from different private hospitals,” he added. He said among the infected nurses, 180 are from Dhaka, 14 from Mymensing and 11 are from different other districts.