Bangladesh is facing the risk of a serious deterioration in the coronavirus situation as a large number of overseas returnees are still roaming freely in different parts of the country amid outbreak of the disease globally. “Today, a person came to me to withdraw his remittance. Replying to a query he said that he came from abroad. When asked, why you are out of house, he just smiled. This is the situation of the country,” Rashedul Islam Turin, an official of Bangladesh Krishi Bank said on his Facebook status on Tuesday.
Not only at bank, a large number of foreign returnees, who have been asked to maintain at home quarantine, are roaming around bazaars, rail stations and other places in the country. Several posts or statuses became viral in the social media that foreign returnees with tags in their hands (quarantine) are exchanging money in counters, markets and even attending wedding receptions.
“The coronavirus situation may take a serious turn from April 1. After analyzing information from various foreign organizations I envisage that we may see a large number of infections and deaths. It was our big mistake to allow foreigners to roam freely,” Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sayeed Khokon recently said at a press briefing.
According to government data, in last 22 days, out of more than three lakh overseas returnees in the country, only 30,708 returnees have been kept either in quarantine or in isolation till March 23, and of them authorities have released 6,088 returnees. Most of the foreign returnees came to Bangladesh from coronavirus affected countries and they are roaming around all 64 districts in the country, posing a serious risk of spreading deadly virus.
According to published data by Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) on Monday, out of 33 cases of coronavirus infection till Monday, 13 were foreign returnees and at least 20 were infected by close contact of returnees or any other local medium.
Besides, six more people, including a health worker, have been diagnosed with coronavirus as the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has increased to 33. “In the past 24 hours, IEDCR has tested 56 samples and so far samples of 620 people have been tested. Of the 620 samples tested, 33 were diagnosed with coronavirus in the past 24 hours, while six new have been diagnosed with the virus. The number of total deaths is now three as another person has died from the virus infection,”IEDCR Director Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora revealed the latest coronavirus figures at a press briefing through online on Monday.
On the day, another person died in Bangladesh after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total death toll to three, said IEDCR. “Among the newly-infected people, one is aged around 20 years, two aged about 30 to 40, one over 50 and two more are aged over 60.Two of the six are imported cases who came from India and Bahrain and the rest have been infected locally,” she added.
While sharing details about the total confirmed coronavirus cases in country, the IEDCR Director mentioned that so far three health workers have been found positive for the virus. "One doctor and two nurses have been infected by the virus while treating patients," she said.
The IEDCR disclosed the detailed statistics about the infected people across the country, including the gender and age ratio as well as locations. “Around two-third of the total patients are male and the rest are female. Two patients are aged below 10, nine are aged between 21 and 30, nine between 31 and 40, five between 41 and 50, one between 51 and 60 and six of the patients are over 60 years,” said Prof Flora.
Of the patients, 15 are from Dhaka, 10 are from Madaripur, three from Narayanganj, two from Gaibandha and one each from Cumilla, Gazipur and Chuadanga. The IEDCR Director further mentioned that 13 of the 33 confirmed cases are imported ones. Of them, six came from Italy, two from the USA, two from other European countries and one each from Bahrain, India and Kuwait.
"We’ll be sharing all the detailed information with you through online...all the diagnosed patients except one are currently in stable condition," she said. Five of the 33 patients have recovered completely. In the past 24 hours, Prof Flora mentioned, the IEDCR received 1,716 calls through hotlines while 12 people came to the IEDCR directly.
coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak