Enamul Hafiz Latifee reports,
Bangladesh today on 16 April 2020 reported 10 more deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 341 fresh positive cases overnight, the highest in terms of both deaths and infection in a single day since its first detection on 08 March 2020.
“Ten more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll from the pandemic to 60,” Additional Director General (administration) of DGHS Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in the city.
She said 341 more people tested positive for the lethal virus in the country during the time which took the total number of coronavirus cases to 1,572.
The health official said among the fresh COVID-19 deaths, one was in his 70s, five in their 60s, three in their 50s, and one in his 20s. Among the victims, six died in Dhaka and four in other regions of the country, she added.
According to the DGHS COVID-19-infected tally, coronavirus cases have increased in the country for the fifth consecutive day as 139 positive cases were confirmed on 12 April, 182 on 13 April, 209 on 14 April, 219 on 15 April and 341 on 16 April 2020.
It said 1090 COVID-19 positive cases out of the total infected tally of 1,572 were detected in the past five days. In line with the government decision to increase sample tests of suspected cases to determine how many people are infected by the virus, Nasima said the sample collection and test have been increased by four percent and 16 percent respectively in the past 24 hours.
She said a total of 341 fresh cases were detected after testing 2019 samples through 20 labs across the country over the last 24 hours. “Till today we tested a total of 16,887 samples,” she said. The health official said the government has intensified its efforts including the collection of protective equipment, such as PPE, surgical masks alongside increasing medical facilities for coronavirus-infected patients.
She also told the briefing that by now authorities collected 14,46,616 PPE, and of them, they distributed 10,00,500 PPE at different hospitals countrywide, while 3,96,052 PPE are in stock. Nasima said over one lakh people were kept at both home and institutional quarantine and 66,505 people were released from quarantine, while the number of people who currently remain in quarantine is about 36,000.
She said a total of 488 institutions have been prepared across the country for keeping over 26,000 people in quarantine. “At present, a total of 352 people have been kept at isolation,” she added.
The health official said doctors, medical technologists and health workers are being imparted training through online as part of the countrywide ongoing training initiatives to provide healthcare facilities to COVID-19 patients and help test of suspected cases for quick confirmation of coronavirus cases. She advised the people to follow some hygienic practices including washing hands with soap frequently, cleaning all spaces of house and refrain from touching mouths, nose and eyes by unclean hands to protect themselves from the infection of the virus.
Nasima said as part of taking preventative measures to stop imported cases of COVID-19, the authorities of all gateways, including airports, land ports and waterways, are continuing to screening of all foreign returnees. The health official said the government by now prepared 7,693 isolation beds at different hospitals in the country to be run under a 23-point health guideline prescribing isolation and quarantine arrangements, PPE usage and hygienic environment.
She said till today, over 2,523,641 people received healthcare services from hotline mobile numbers and health web portals as the government formed a group of medical professionals to provide emergency health services.
The contact hotline and mobile numbers are 16263; 333; 10655 and 01944333222 – to receive information and treatment facilities on COVID-19.
As of 16 April 2020, 08:46 PM GMT, 137,060 people have died so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and there are currently 2,109,074 confirmed cases in 210 countries and territories, according to Worldometer, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics. China was the world’s first country which on January 11 reported the first death from the COVID-19 in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province.