Bangladesh on Monday reported five more deaths from the novel coronavirus, and recorded highest number of 182 fresh positive cases in a single day since the virus was first detected on March 8.
The new case rate was 11.59 percent of the total 1570 samples tested during the last 24 hours which is the highest so far. Earlier highest rate was 10.37 percent on Sunday when 139 new cases were found by testing 1,340 samples.
With the update, the death toll rose to 39 and number of total cases stood at 803, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said in a virtual briefing.
Three more people recovered in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of recovered patients to 42.
The briefing did not provide further details about the new patients or the deceased.
The health minister urged all to stay alert as “community transmission has already started”.
“Please stay indoors,” he called upon all. “Test your condition if you feel sick”.
“We’re seeing that infection has spread to many areas. Most of those carriers are from Dhaka or Narayanganj. So, lockdown has to be followed more strictly. We still see people are crow`idng in markets, loitering elsewhere defying lockdown rules,” he said.
He reiterated that Bangladesh is still in a better condition compared to the US and European countries where hundreds of thousands of people have been affected.
“But we have to maintain that,” he said, stressing the need to stay at home.
He assured that the government is taking all out steps to manage the outbreak.
“We’re following Prime Minister’s instructions. We are allowing every district medical college and private medical college for coronavirus treatment,” he said, referring to the steps the health ministry has taken so far.
He said they are also talking with the private hospitals, including Shahabuddin Hospital and Anwar Khan Medical College Hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
“We’re also adding private hospitals in each district to this list,” he said.
