Coronavirus cases rose 700 times in Bangladesh in the last one month with the steady increase of fatalities.
On March 23 there were only six cases in Bangladesh. On April 23, it stood at 4186 with 414 new cases on Thursday by testing 3,416 samples.
The death toll stood at 127 with new seven deaths. Total 108 patients made full recovery so far with the new 16 on Thursday.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque disclosed those figures at the regular health bulletin.
Bangladesh confirmed the coronavirus cases on March 8. Till March 23, it was only 6 cases, the health minister said, urging people to stay at home and health guidelines.
The first death was reported on March 18.
The minister, however, drew 45 days comparison with some European countries and said Bangladesh is in a better condition than many countries.
“In the 45th days of infection, Bangladesh has lost 120 patients whereas within the same period around 11,000 people died in Italy.”
He also claimed that there will be no special treatments for VIPs and wealthy patients.
“The government has taken no such step. Hospitals will operate the same for everyone and will provide same treatment to everybody,” he said.
He also urged every government employee not to make statements without the permission of the higher authorities.
“No hospital has been locked down and the medicine supply is adequate,” the minister added.
He mentioned that a decision has been taken by the government to take action against fake PPE selling.
Additional Director General for Health Prof Nasima Sultana said among the deceased, five were male and two were female.
All of them were from Dhaka. Four of the deceased were aged above 60, two between 51 and 60 and one was aged between 41 and 50. She said COVID-19 patients have been identified in three more districts all of which are in Khulna division.
But the patients rise is mostly based in Dhaka city.
Prof Nasima said a total of 32,770 samples have so far been tested since the detection of first COVID-19 cases in the country.
There are 21 labs in the country for testing samples of COVID-19.
She said patients were found in 58 districts meaning that almost all regions of the country are now risky for the fatal disease.
Analyzing area-based transmission of the fatal disease, she said coronavirus positive cases have sharply increased in Gazipur, Mymensingh, Munshiganj, Chattogram, Narsingdi and Keraniganj.
She dubbed Dhaka and Narayanganj COVID-19 as “hotspots” as the maximum number of cases was detected in the two cities.
“Gazipur has been identified as a new hotspot for coronavirus as a large number of positive were found there,” she said.
Till now, Dhaka city is still considered as the worst-affected with 45.51 percent of COVID cases, while Dhaka division has remained top position with 85.26 percent infected cases out of total coronavirus patients.
In Dhaka city, ten areas — Rajarbagh, Mohammadpur, Lalbag, Jatrabari, Bangsal, Chakbazar, Mirpur, Uttara, Tejgaon and Mahakhali — have been identified the worst hit as the maximum number cases were found in those areas, she added.
According to the age-group, 10 percent COVID-19 cases are in their 60s, 15 percent in their 50s, 18 percent in their 40s, 22 percent in their 30s, 24 percent in their 20s while eight percent is above ten years old and 3 percent below 10 years old, Prof Nasima added.
In order to stem the community transmissions of COVID-19, the health official urged the law enforcement agencies and organisations concerned to take strict measures to make the nationwide shutdown more effective.
“The most effective ways to protect ourselves from the super contagious virus are frequently clean your hands with soap, cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue and maintain a distance of at least 1 meter (3 feet) from people who are coughing or sneezing,” she said.
People must stay at home to protect themselves from the virus infection, she said: “If they go outside from their home for their emergency needs, they must wear masks”.
When the people return home, Nasima said, they must clean their hands with soaps, and their wearing clothes have to be washed by detergents to ensure proper hygiene.
The health official said all health organisations and hospitals should properly examine the standard of the protective gears to ensure safety of their healthcare professionals.
According to the health department, 168,350 people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine and over 84,017 people were released from quarantine, while the number of people who currently remain in quarantine is 84,333.
It added a total of 601 institutions have been prepared across the country for keeping over 30,635 people in quarantine, adding 995 people have now been kept in isolation.
As part of taking preventative measures to stop imported cases of COVID-19, the authorities of all gateways, including airports, land ports and waterways, are continuing screening of all foreign returnees.
It added the government has collected 157,190 PPE so far, of which 12,88,317 were distributed and 3,58,092 are in stock.
People have been asked to contact hotline and mobile numbers: 16263; 333; 10655 and 01944333222 – to receive information and treatment facilities on COVID-19.
