A man, who was set to undergo testing for the novel coronavirus, has fled from Dhaka’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital, according to hospital authorities.
The hospital’s Director Dr Uttam Kumar Barua said the patient, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Bahrain, had been admitted with fever, cold and breathing difficulties. But, he escaped from Ward No. 7 on Sunday morning while doctors were discussing his course of treatment.
“We were holding a meeting to discuss his case. We have spoken to the director general of health services and the director of IEDCR, who was preparing to send her team over. But the patient fled in the meantime and we haven’t been able to track him down.”
On what prompted the man to bolt, the director said: “He fled when he figured out that we would test him for coronavirus. His wife was with him.”
Although doctors decided to run tests for coronavirus on him, Dr Uttam believes the chances of him having the infection are low.
“He returned from Bahrain on January 18. But the first coronavirus case was reported there on February 6. He had spoken about having breathing issues. Maybe he is suffering from pneumonia.”
