Bangladesh on Friday announced the detection of three new coronavirus patients, raising the number of such cases in the country to 20.
Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana revealed the information at a press briefing.
The new infected people include two male and one female, she said at the press briefing at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in Mohakhali.
“One of the infected people is female who is aged around 30 and other two male are aged around 30 and 70 respectively. The elderly patient is in critical condition. We’re providing him treatment at the Intensive Care Unit," Dr Nasima said.
She also informed that all the three newly-infected patients are not related. “One of them recently returned from Italy and two others were infected when they came in contact with an overseas Bangladeshi.”
A total of 36 people were tested for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the DGHS additional director general said, adding that 30 people are in isolation and 44 are quarantined institutionally.
In the past 24 hours, she mentioned, the IEDCR received 2,229 calls regarding the coronavirus infection while DGHS received 32,962 calls. Fifty people came to the IEDCR directly.
Prof Nasima said 7,236 people have been screened at airports across the country during the period.
She noted that the administration in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur will be helping the local medical units maintain the 'lockdown' to contain the disease.
She declined to comment whether any other place will be shut down, saying, "The Home Ministry will give the directives if further lockdown deems necessary."
Dr Nasima urged the overseas returnees to stay in a separate room and refrain from going out of home.
Bangladesh reported the country’s first death from coronavirus on March 18.
On March 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.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said the government will consider lockdown in some vulnerable areas of the country if the coronavirus situation turns worse in the upcoming days.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Army is setting up two quarantine centres-- one at the Haji Camp, Ashkona while another at Diabari, Uttara-- to contain the coronavirus spread.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus or COVID-19 has reached 10,049 globally as of Friday.
It has so far infected 246,467 people around the world, according to worldometer.
Of them, 147,935 are currently being treated with 7,389 being in serious or critical condition.
So far, 98,532 cases had outcomes and of them, 88,483 (90 percent) recovered and 10 percent died.
COVID-19 is affecting 182 countries and territories around the world and one international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harboured in Yokohama, Japan).
The World Health Organization on March 11 declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic.
