A second Bangladeshi - a 73-year-old who tested positive for coronavirus - has died, and four more persons have been detected with Covid-19, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 24, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said at a press briefing in Dhaka, local media reported.
Bangladesh on Saturday (Mar 21) reported the second death from coronavirus.
"Total death from the coronavirus infection in the country is now two. Four new patients have been diagnosed with the disease,” Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced at a press briefing after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The deceased, aged around 73, had comorbidity, he said.
The minister said 50 people are in institutional quarantine and around 14000 people are home quarantined countrywide," he said.
The minister assured that those who came here from abroad and used misinformation to avoid home quarantine will be identified from lists sent to local administration.
"Those who arrived here before March are currently safe," he added.
He mentioned that the government is preparing Sheikh Russel Gastronomy Institute and Sheikh Hasina Burn Unit in DMCH for treating the coronavirus patients.
The minister also confirmed that two locations in Tongi and Uttara have been selected for institutional quarantine.
"The country has received seven testing machines for the diagnosis of the disease. These will be set up in new locations for testing people with corona symptoms. However as these machines require sophisticated biosafety lab so we need some time," he added.
He expressed hope that 400 Intensive Care Units (ICU) will be set up soon.
Bangladesh reported the country’s first death from coronavirus on Mar 18.
On Mar 8, the IEDCR announced for the first time the detection of three Covid-19 patients in Bangladesh.
The first three Bangladeshis infected with coronavirus were recovered.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of 11,398 people worldwide as of Saturday. It has so far infected 275,871 people around the world, 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 Mar 11 declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic.
