Dhaka – Two doctors are among the four new novel coronavirus cases detected Friday in Bangladesh, raising the national total of Covid-10 patient to 48, an official said.

No new death was however reported in the last 24 hours ended on Friday morning, according to Meerjady Sabrina Flora, the director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.

She said four persons including two physicians have been tested Covid-19 positive.  Two of them are in Dhaka while the rest outside the capital city.

One newly infected aged over 20, one aged above 31, one aged 41 the rest in his sixties.

The IECDR director said Bangladesh reported partial community infections urging people to stay at home to help prevent spread of the deadly virus.

Eleven out of the total of 48 patients recovered while health condition of the other infected people is stable.

The South Asian country reported its first three cases of novel coronavirus on March 8 and five people – all over 60 years of old – died so far.

The government is trying to decentralized the testing facilities for the Covid-19 as the facilities were limited previously at the IEDCR. Now Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) at Faujdarhat in Chittagong has started testing of the virus.

“Area-based sample collection and testing facilities will be carried out across the country very soon for rapid confirmation coronavirus cases,” Flora said.

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the government has set up a coordinated control room comprising different committee at Director General of Health Services, she said.

These committees under the control room are working the round the clock to provide healthcare services to the people so that COVID-19 could not be spread.

Alongside the coordinated control room, the government has set a control room at the Prime Minister’s Office and another one has set up at the health ministry to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

“Control rooms are also available at district and upazila levels to ensure quick access of the people to healthcare facilities” the IEDCR director added.

She said foreign countries including China and Singapore, different development partners and local companies and organizations are extending assistance through providing different protective equipment and hygienic materials for identifying coronavirus positive cases side by side containing the spread of the disease.

“At the initial stage, we were testing only foreign returnee…. now are expanding our examining areas. All potential groups of people including professionals, who have remained with public contacts, have been brought under testing facilities to detect COVID-19 cases.”

In Dhaka, the diagnosis facility is expanding to Gonoshasthaya Kendra, Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, she added.

“So far, we have tested samples of 1026 persons, of which 106 were tested in the last 24 hours,” Flora said urging people to call only two hotline numbers – 01944333222, 10655 – which will connect the other toll free numbers.

People can get their required COVID-19 related information through e-mail [email protected] and facebook account-Iedcr.

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