Chattogram to Get Coronavirus Testing Kits Sunday

Testing kits to identify coronavirus (Covid-19) will arrive in Chattogram on Sunday, Civil Surgeon Dr Fazle Rabbi said Saturday.

''We visited Bangladesh Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) on Friday. Everything is okay. We’ll do coronavirus testing here for the time being,'' he said.

Chattogram's Divisional Commissioner ABM Azad on Friday said the testing kits and other equipment were being brought to the port city within the next 48 hours.

He said corona testing will be carried out at BITID in Foujderhat.

Initially, coronavirus patients will be kept at Chattogram General Hospital and patients being treated here will be shifted to other hospitals.

''We've decided to prepare a number of isolation beds at BITID, Railway Hospital, Bandar Hospital and some other hospitals at the upazila level,'' he said.

Civil Surgeon Rabbi said Chattogram has a shortage of ICUs. ''We're currently using Chittagong Medical College Hospital’s ICU and are trying to arrange alternatives,'' he said.

All educational institutions, religious gatherings and entertainment centers in the port city have remained shut to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Coronavirus (Covid-19), which was first reported in China, has so far claimed two lives in Bangladesh and infected 24 people.

Globally, the virus has killed 11,398 people until Saturday and infected 275,871 people, according to worldometer. Of them, 172,561 are currently being treated with 7,765 being in serious or critical condition.

So far, 103,310 cases had outcomes and of them, 91,912 (89 percent) recovered and 11 percent died. The World Health Organization on March 11 declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic.

Source: UNB