CORONAVIRUS Bangladesh puts 9 more in isolation

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research on Tuesday isolated eight more persons after they were found with symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection.

They came from different countries, said IEDCR director Meerjady Sabrina Flora.

Clarifying their condition, she said that the people who were put in isolation were patients but were yet to be confirmed as COVID-19 cases through lab tests.

Besides, a woman, who has recently returned from Saudi Arabia, was hospitalised and put in isolation in Chuadanga on the day.

Family members said that the woman, suffering from fever and coughing, had gone to Damurhuda Upazila Health Complex on Monday but doctors had sent her back after providing medicines.

The hospital authorities on Tuesday took her to the hospital again from home as her condition worsened.

Chuadanga civil surgeon ASM Maruf Hossain said that the woman was suspected to be infected with the coronavirus and was kept in isolation at the health complex.

An IEDCR team is supposed to collect her sample, he said.

The New Age correspondent in Manikganj on Tuesday reported that 59 people, who have recently returned home from Italy, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, were kept under observation at their homes by the district civil surgeon office.

Besides, four other people have been in the IEDCR institutional quarantine. They were in contact with the three confirmed Covid-19 patients.

Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi-British man died of the coronavirus infection on Sunday while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the UK.

The deceased, aged around 60, arrived in the UK on February 29 after a short trip to Italy, BBC Bangla reported quoting his son.

The man, who had other medical complications, fell sick on March 3 and was taken to a local hospital where he was found coronavirus-positive.

He was immediately taken into isolation and was receiving treatment, his son said, adding that doctors at North Manchester General Hospital at the moment said  that his condition was stable.

But doctors confirmed Sunday morning that he passed away, his son said.

Bangladesh on Sunday, for the first time, confirmed that three people were found infected with the virus in the country and around 110 others taken earlier to isolations with symptoms of the infection were later tested negative.

The infected three are undergoing treatment at a hospital and their health condition is stable now, said Meerjady at the daily press conference at her office.

She said that they were now doing well but would not be released from the hospital until two consecutive tests found them negative for the novel virus infection.

Bangladesh remains at the risk of the coronavirus spread as uncontrolled entry of passengers to it from affected countries are going on.

The COVID-19 infection has so far spread to 105 countries killing over 4,000 people and infecting over 1.09 lakh people, mostly in China.

The screening of the incoming travellers at the country’s ports of entry is in question as thermal scanners at different ports remain out of order.

The government claimed on Monday that they installed five new thermal scanners at different ports but reports said that those were being installed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a thermal scanner at the Dhaka airport was damaged early Tuesday allegedly by travellers.

An IEDCR official said that several hundred passengers arrived at the airport at about midnight when they damaged the thermal scanner.

Scanning by thermal scanners is a not a foolproof measure to detect and prevent contagious diseases like COVID-19, IEDCR principal scientific officer ASM Alamgir told New Age.

The scanners only detect high body temperature but the coronavirus might remain dormant in passengers when their bodies still do not show high temperature, he said.

IEDCR consultant Mushtuq Husain told New Age that as Bangladesh did not have an immediate plan to suspend flights to and from affected countries, their strategy now was to keep the information about the passengers, quarantine them at home, put those in isolation who were found with symptoms and track the people who already mixed with them.

World Health Organisation epidemiology adviser Mahmudur Rahman said that it was not the scanning of the passengers but their follow-up in the later days was most effective in detecting the coronavirus infection cases.

He, too, stressed the need for home quarantine of all those coming from abroad for 14 days and their follow-up by the government surveillance system.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University virology professor SU Munshi said that asymptomatic coronavirus patients would easily come out of a thermal scanner.

‘Thermal scanner is not foolproof,’ he said.

‘Even those who have coughing and sneezing but no fever would be identified by a thermal scanner,’ he said.

The New Age staff correspondent in Sylhet Tuesday evening reported that the installation of a new thermal scanner at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet was underway in the afternoon.

Checking the body temperature of the incoming and outgoing visitors through the land ports at Tamabil, Sutarkandi and Jakiganj in the district was going on with hand-held thermometers, he said.

The New Age staff correspondent in Chattogram on Tuesday reported that a new thermal scanner was set up on the day at Shah Amanat International Airport, the second largest airport of the country, to scan the air passengers.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net