Staff Reporter :
The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has said that three patients who were found positive with coronavirus infection are now doing well.
IEDCR Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora said this in a press briefing at the IEDCR auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The Institute on Sunday confirmed the first three coronavirus cases in the country. Two of them, both men, have returned from Italy recently. The other patient is the wife of one of them.
In the briefing, Flora said eight more people, who had returned to Bangladesh from abroad, were isolated on suspicion of the virus infection.
Along with them, four others were also quarantined, she said.
Flora said, they collected samples from the eight individuals to determine whether they were infected with the virus or not.
However, the matter was not disclosed in the briefing whether they were isolated at their homes or hospitals.
The eight persons had to be kept under observation as per the procedure, though some of them were found negative during the test.
The IEDCR Director said, “We received 2,778 phone calls related to coronavirus through the hotlines in the last 24 hours.”
“We tested seven individuals in the last 24 hours and no one was found infected.”
The IEDCR so far collected samples from 127 people to check if they are infected with the virus.
Citing self-quarantine as the best method, Flora advised people returning from abroad to keep themselves at home, so that lives of other people remained safe.
“We are working seriously and there is nothing to be worried. We are observing the overall situation very closely,” she said.
Meanwhile, 59 expatriates who returned from several countries were kept at home quarantine in Manikganj district since Tuesday afternoon.
The surveillance has been increased to check the coronavirus, said S M Ferdos, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district.
Dr Anwarul Amin Khandakar, Civil Surgeon of Manikganj district, said , “The local administration, police, and health workers were deployed in the concerned house of the returnees.”
They came back from China, Italy, South Africa Saudi Arabia, Singapore and some other countries, said Anwarul Amin Khandakar, .
If we find any of them positive, then he or she will be sent to quarantine, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, IEDCR requested all overseas returnees to self-quarantine.
Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Director of IEDCR, during a press conference made the request.
She urged those, who recently returned from abroad or are about to return, to stay at home for 14 days and stay away from other members of their families or outsiders as much as possible.
“Do not leave home for 14 days, if possible,” she said, adding that if they must go out, they must wear masks regardless of the presence of symptoms of coronavirus.
In the meantime, if anybody shows any symptom, they must call the IEDCR hotlines, Prof Flora said.
