At least eight journalists, including six in Dhaka, have been infected with cornavirus while the sources of most of their infections have remained untraced with only one of them having recent history of travelling abroad. Of them, six were employees of five private television channels and two were employees of two dailies, said Dhaka Reporters’ Unity president Rafiqul Islam Azad.
The infected journalists included one who and his six family members, including a three-month baby, were also infected, said the DRU president. The first case of journalist getting infected by the new coronavirus was detected on April 3 as a video journalist of Independent Television was tested positive for the virus.
Colleagues of the journalist said that before he was identified as a COVID-19 patient, the infected person visited different hospitals and other places to collect information about the coronavirus situation. In a statement, Independent Television chief executive officer and editor-in-chief M Shamsur Rahman said that the station sent 47 employees, who were exposed to the infected person, to home quarantine.
On April 9, a senior reporter of Jamuna TV and his father-in law was admitted to Kurmitola General Hospital after they had been tested positive for coronavirus. The incident prompted the station to put more than 30 colleagues of the infected reporter under home quarantine. Later, a broadcast journalist of Deepto Television was found positive with the virus on April 11 that prompted the station to put about 30 employees under home quarantine.
On the same day, an ATN News journalist tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement, ATN News chief executive editor Munni Saha said that the infected journalist arrived home on March 21 after completing a training session in abroad. She said that the journalist joined his work on April 5 after completing his home quainter period. However, he experienced COVID-19 symptoms after four days of his joining, she added.
She said that 20 employees of the station were sent to self-quarantine following the incident. Besides, a reporter of Daily Bangladesher Khobor and another of Daily Sangram are now undergoing treatment as they were tested positive for coronavirus. On Monday, Narsingdi civil surgeon Mohammad Ibrahim told New Age that a correspondent of a television channel teased COVID-19 positive in the district.
Another journalist from outside Dhaka is a news channel’s Gazipur correspondent. About the matter, DRU president said that reporters were in the high risk zone of COVID-19 as they were visiting various places every day. He said that physicians were aware that they were handling with patents; but journalists had no idea about whom they were dealing with.
He asked the authorities concerned to take necessary safety measures and incentives for the journalists who cover events in the days of coronavirus. According to the Directorate General of Health Services, the deaths from coronavirus rose to 50 and the number of identified infected people rose to 1,231 until Wednesday. Bangladesh confirmed its first coronavirus infections on March 8 and the first death from the infection on March 18.
