Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday said that Bangladesh has been “successful” in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic compared with other countries.
He also said that the government would take the final decision over the trial of Chinese Covid-19 vaccine after discussing with the national technical advisory committee.
“We are keeping eyes on vaccine developments across the world. The government would take such a decision which will be good for the country,” he said, talking with the reporters at the secretariat, a day after the resignation of the director general for health Prof Abul Kalam Azad.
“The Ministry of Public Administration will take the final decision,” he said when asked about the resignation.
“You (journalists) said Dr Abul Kalam Azad has resigned from his post. But there is a rule in this regard. As per the rule, his resignation letter has been sent to the public administration ministry and the ministry will take the final decision on this.
“At first, we have to make a decision about the resignation of the incumbent director general of the health directorate. Then, we will decide on the appointment of a new director general,” he further said, adding that since he is a grade-1 employee of the government, so the public administration will take his decision.
He said the government would also form a “strong taskforce” to monitor the hospitals and clinics across the country.
“The death rate from the virus is 6 percent globally and 10 percent in the United States, whereas in Bangladesh, the mortality rate is 1.26 percent,” he said while claiming success in the fight against the pandemic.
“The (Covid-19) mortality rate in Bangladesh is the lowest among the most populous countries in the world. It’s good news.”
He said the number of Covid-19 patients has reduced to half at the hospital, “because the health services have been improved much”.
“The number of patients in hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 dropped by half especially in Dhaka city. More than 3,000 Covid-19 beds are vacant now in Dhaka at present,” he said,
The death toll from the virus rose to 2,751 and the number of total infections stood at 213,254 in Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BRMC) has given permission to icddr,b to conduct Phase-3 trial of the China’s Sinovac vaccine on healthcare workers.
