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No new coronavirus patients have been identified through the 142 sample tests carried out at IEDCR

The Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) has said that new test results of two among three patients earlier found positive with coronavirus infection have now been shown to be negative.

IEDCR Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora revealed the information while speaking at a press briefing at the IEDCR auditorium in Dhaka on Wednesday.

"According to World Health Organization (WHO) protocol and discussions with experts, the patients will be released if a second test shows negative results as well,” she said, adding: "They will undergo the second test after 24-hours."

However, no new coronavirus patients have been identified through the 142 sample tests carried out at IEDCR.

Meerjady also said that eight people, who had returned to Bangladesh from abroad and were isolated on suspicion of carrying the virus, were now in isolation at different hospitals.

“These patients are now being kept in different hospitals but we are working on an alternative so that the patients can be kept in some places instead of in hospitals,” added Meerjady. IEDCR Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora speaks at a press briefing at the IEDCR auditorium in Dhaka on March 11, 2020 | Dhaka Tribune

Meerjady further noted: “Instead of home-quarantine, we are insisting on self-quarantine; we want people to be careful when they go out of the house.” She said: “Five more thermal scanners have been gifted by the Summit Group, which are soon to be placed at airports. One of them will be kept on standby at Dhaka airport.”

As there have been complaints about IEDCR’s 12 hotline numbers being unreachable or remaining busy, IEDCR has introduced a new hunting number – 01944333222, through which callers will be transferred to the hotline numbers that are available.

The director said: “We have received 3,225 calls in the last 24 hours on the hotline, of which 3,145 were related to coronavirus. During that period of time, a total of 24 people went to IEDCR for service and of them samples from 10 were tested.”

About people who are suspicious of being infected, Meerjady requested offices to encourage employees to work from home for fourteen days.

Of the Bangladeshis infected, 5 are in Singapore, 2 in Italy and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Among the 5 in Singapore, 4 have been cured and are now safely home. One is still in critical condition and is in ICU.

“The number of infected countries has reached 110. Among these countries, 1,13,702 people have been infected, and in the last 24 hours 4,125 were added to the list,” she said.

File photo: A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines brought back 316 Bangladeshi citizens stranded in Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak on February 1, 2020 | Rajib Dhar/Dhaka Tribune

Of the total number of people infected, 4,012 have died so far, with 220 among them dying in the last 24 hours.

China remains the hardest-hit overall with more than 80,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths, out of a global total of 117,339 cases and 4,251 deaths across 107 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally.

On March 8, Bangladesh confirmed its first three patients of Covid-19, while three other people, who had been in close contact with the infected trio, have also been quarantined.

Bangladeshis returning from six countries — China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Iran and Thailand — have been asked to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days from the day of their arrival.