As many as 540 doctors have contracted Covid-19 in the country so far, accounting for a little over 6.5% of the total infections reported in the country till Friday when the number of cases climbed to 8,238.
The tally of doctors testing positive for the novel coronavirus saw the latest surge as seven more cases were confirmed in the past 23 hours as of 8am on Saturday, according to Bangladesh Doctors’ Foundation (BDF).
Only 18 of them have recovered as of yet, making up almost 10% of the total recovered patients with just two recoveries over the past 24-hour span.
On Friday, the health authorities reported that some 174 people recovered from the virus while the death toll rose to 170 across the country.
Earlier, the tally of infected doctors crossed the grim 500 mark on April 30, just three days after surpassing 400 cases.
BDF Chairman Dr Md Shahed Rafi Pavel said, majority of the infections are in Dhaka, followed by Narayanganj, Gazipur, and Kishoreganj, with most cases being reported from government hospitals.
This upward trend of infections among doctors continues amidst widespread discontent among healthcare professionals regarding the quality and distribution of personal protection equipment (PPE).
Several media reports have also questioned the quality of PPEs provided to medics across the country.
Bangladesh reported the first death of a doctor diagnosed with Covid-19 on April 15. Another doctor died with Covid-19 symptoms on April 12.
