Passengers who flew back to Dhaka from Italy being taken to the Ashkona Hajj Camp at Uttara in the city for quarantine soon after they landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday — FE photo The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has a stock of reagent enough to test only 2,000 coronavirus suspects.
The number of people, who have returned from various coronavirus-hit countries stood at 2,314 until Sunday morning. They are now in home quarantine in all eight divisions.
According to a health directorate source, a total of 2,471 people were staying in home quarantine until 3:00pm last Sunday.
For the first time, IEDCR officially announced the number of people in home quarantine.
The institute had earlier refused to disclose the number on the grounds that it would create panic among people.
But media outlets regularly give update based on information made available by their correspondents and relevant district civil surgeons.
IEDCR director Dr Meerzady Sabrina Flora also held regular media briefing on Sunday at the institute at Mohakhali in the capital.
She advised the corona suspects not to come to the IEDCR directly for tests as such visits increased the risk of spreading the virus among others.
"The returnees from abroad must stay in home quarantine strictly following all the rules. There is no scope to take the matter lightly." Dr Flora cited.
"Anyone discounting home quarantine regulations strictly will be taken under institutional quarantine," she mentioned categorically.
If anyone suspects infection, the IEDCR chief said, he or she should call at any of the IEDCR numbers and not come directly to the institute.
"If you come, we'll stop collecting samples here and collect samples from your home," she warned.
Dr Flora disclosed that 10 people were being kept in isolation, four institutionally quarantined at different hospitals.
On Saturday night, two people tested COVID-19 positive from among 231 screened in the last 24 hours, she said.
The victims are male aged 29 and 40 plus and had coughing and fever. One returned from Italy and the other from Germany around two weeks ago, she added.
The man above 40 has comorbidity like diabetes and hypertension.
In the meantime, the authorities announced that the first three corona patients have recovered. When asked Dr Flora declined to give details about how many have returned from abroad and how many of them are in home quarantine.
She felt that disclosure of such information might create a sense of panic among people.
According to an IEDCR press release issued Sunday, the number of total passengers screened at three airports of the country was about 0.60 million since January 21.
In the past 15 days, more than 0.1 million people have come from different countries. But IEDCR does not have detailed information about the returnees.
Regarding the test of the suspects outside Dhaka, Dr Flora said they are collecting samples of atypical pneumonia from other parts of the country through the 'surveillance system test'.
A total of 186 people returned from Italy on Sunday-152 in the morning and 34 in the evening. They were all sent to Ashkona hajj camp for undergoing necessary test.
The returnees will later be sent for mandatory home quarantine, even if they are found physically fit. Another two flights arrived on Saturday, Dr Flora said. As many as 48 people were sent to Gazipur and 72 kept in Ashkona for test, she told the media.
"We've sent home the returnees from Italy with the help of the administration to ensure home quarantine," she said.
On allegations of poor quarantine preparedness and mismanagement with regard to returnees taken to Hajj camp Saturday, she said there was every arrangement but the returnees from Italy refused to enter the camp until afternoon.
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