Staff Reporter :
Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the number of tests being done for identifying Covid-19 patients should be increased across the country.
He ordered everyone concerned to increase the number of tests by 16 times, as 16 labs including the divisional cities are now conducting tests for coronavirus infection.
He made the statement at a meeting observing World Health Day 2020 on Tuesday, held at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Mohakhali, Dhaka.
The minister said: “The more tests we do, the more patients we can identify. All the countries are emphasizing testing to determine Covid-19 positive cases.”
“If tests are not increased we will be unable to identify Covid-19 positive patients. Then we will not be able to eradicate the virus from the country,” he added.
He urged the authorities concerned to do the tests properly and collect samples from anyone suspected of being infected by coronavirus. Identifying the first positive case on March 8, Bangladesh started doing tests slowly due to a shortage of testing kits. However, now it is gradually increasing as 792 samples were collected in the last 24 hours which is almost double that on the previous day. According to the DGHS, more than 100,000 test kits have been stocked and all the laboratories across the country have sufficient test kits.
The health minister said regular health services are being interrupted in many places of the country. “We have received many allegations of physicians being unavailable at hospitals. The prime minister already gave warnings about the irregularities,” said Zahid Maleque.
