Coronavirus outbreak: Bangladesh reports first three positive cases

Amid the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) reportedly confirmed the first three positive cases in Bangladesh. The IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina said that the affected people are aged between 20 and 35 and two of them recently returned from Italy. Sabrina further urged people not to panic as the government hopes it will be under control. 

While speaking at a press briefing, Sabrina said, “Both of them are from separate families. After they went back to their homes, they called our hotlines to get tested. Later, they tested positive”.

She further added, “After that, we started testing people who came into contact with the two returnees and that is how we found the third affected coronavirus patient. Three others who were in their contact are in quarantine at the moment”. 

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The authorities have asked people to avoid public gathering and suggested to mostly stay at home and to follow the precautionary measures. Sabrina said that at the moment there is no need to shut down schools and colleges. Although, last week, Bangladesh government restricted entry of people without the virus-free medical certificates from four countries including, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Kuwait in a bid to control the spread of the deadly virus. 

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Death toll in China surpasses 3,000

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across more than 80 countries since December 2019. As per reports, the total number of confirmed cases within China has reportedly hit 80,701 and more than one lakh worldwide. According to reports, the death toll in China has also surpassed 3,000 and the National Health Commission also confirmed more than 50 new cases. The death toll due to the deadly virus across the world also mounted to 3,600.

According to the reports, amid mounting cases of the deadly COVID-19, China resorted to stepping up its quarantine measures on the foreign nationals as well. It also offered assistance to the countries abroad like Iran and Japan which are severely impacted by the contagion. Minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC) Ma Xiaowei told a news conference that despite some success in containing the strain of the new virus, there was a risk of the epidemic rebounding.

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