Bangladesh will run coronavirus tests in 28 facilities, website launched for advice

The government has planned to spread coronavirus testing to 18 more facilities while 10 are in operation.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 31 March 2020, 03:33 PM
Updated : 31 March 2020, 03:33 PM

The Directorate General of Health Services revealed the plan at a daily briefing of the government’s disease control agency in Dhaka on Tuesday, a day after a website was announced to advise patients with symptoms of COVID-19.

Out of the 10 healthcare facilities where the tests are being conducted now, seven are in the capital, according to Habibur Rahman, the director of information management system division at the directorate.

Testing will start at three more facilities in Dhaka and five outside the capital within Apr 5, according to him. The capital will get four more and six others will be established in the rest of the country within Apr 20, he said.

Besides the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR, the facilities designated for the coronavirus test in Dhaka are the Institute of Public Health, Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, Kurmitola General Hospital, and Kuwait-Bangladesh Government Friendship Hospital.

Those outside Dhaka are Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases or BITID in Chattogram’s Faujdarhat, the IEDCR field laboratory in Cox’s Bazar Medical College Hospital, and Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.

The Health Directorate has collected 92,000 polymerase chain reaction or PCR testing kits for COVID-19 and already distributed 20,000 among the labs.

“We urge the people with fever, cold and cough not to crowd the hospitals. Please call us at our hotlines (0194433322 and 10655). Our health workers will visit homes of suspected patients and collect samples,” Habibur said.

LIVE CORONA TEST

On Monday, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak announced the launch of a website on which a person can submit his or her symptoms and other details to know what they need to do.

Ways to prevent coronavirus infection and telemedicine services are also available on https://livecoronatest.com/, the website for advice.

The ICT Division has also added a Corona Awareness Button through ChatBot services on its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ictdivisionbd/) to inform the public about the latest steps taken by the government and instructions from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Health Directorate.