The government has formed a 31- member committee bringing together all the donors to check and manage, if detected, new cornonavirus in Bangladesh.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque will lead the committee.
“This is part of the multi-sectoral approach,” Director General for Health Services Prof Abul Kalam Azad told Bangladesh Post.
The WHO, Unicef, ADB, World Bank and USAID representatives are the members of the committee, among others.
“It’s a new virus and the whole world is grappling to fight off the infection. We are also taking support from different stakeholders,” the director general said, adding that WHO is helping with supplying testing kits and protective gears while Unicef plays role in risk communication.
“Every agency has its role to play. And we are taking that support so that we can manage the situation effectively,” he said.
The WHO declared new coronavirus named COVID-19 global public health emergency with the alert level ‘very high’ as it is spreading across the world after being emerged from China’s Wuhan city. Bangladesh is so far free from the virus.
The health minister, however, in a press briefing on Tuesday urged all to avoid needless travel.
“It’s preferable to avoid unnecessary travels to foreign countries as coronavirus has spread to 60 countries of the world,” he said, adding that many international events have been cancelled for this.
He also assured all of the government’s preparations and said “there will be no problem to manage, even if the virus is detected in Bangladesh.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a briefing on Monday asked all countries to remain alert and said in the last 24 hours there were almost 9 times more cases reported outside China than inside China.
“The epidemics in the Republic of Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan are our greatest concern,” he said, adding that the virus spread to 61 countries.
So far, over 89,000 people globally got the infection. Of them, over 3,000 died.
The government’s disease monitoring arm, IEDCR, urged all not to be panicked and not to spread rumours. They asked all to call the hotline numbers of the IEDCR – 01937000011, 01937110011, 01927711784 and 01927711785 – if needed.
The WHO does not recommend using facemask for healthy individuals.
Suggested precautionary measures include: “Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating, after going to the bathroom and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; cover cough or sneeze with a tissue and throw the tissue away; and clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects”.
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhoea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually.
Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. About 2 percent of people with the disease have died.
