Rajshahi hospital reports 13 new COVID-related deaths in a day

Thirteen people have died at the coronavirus unit of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, or RMCH, between 6 am on Saturday and 6 am on Sunday.

Rajshahi Officebdnews24.com
Published : 13 June 2021, 06:05 AM
Updated : 13 June 2021, 07:25 AM

Six of the dead tested positive for coronavirus, while the rest were all showing symptoms consistent with the disease. Five of those who tested positive hailed from Chapainawabganj, while one was from Naogaon.

Twelve of the dead were men, while one was a woman, said RMCH Director Brigadier General Shameem Yazdani. Two of them hailed from Rajshahi, six from Chapainawabganj, three from Naogaon and one each from Natore and Kushtia.

Six of the dead were over 60 years of age, two were between 51 and 60 years of age and the rest were between 30 and 50 years of age, according to Director Yazdani.

This raises the number of people who have died at the coronavirus unit in the past 13 days (from 6 am on Jun 1 to 6 am on Jun 13) to 125, he said. Seventy of them had tested positive for coronavirus, while the rest were displaying symptoms.

Another 42 patients were admitted to the unit in the past 24 hours, Yazdani said, while 35 recovered from the disease and were released. This raises the number of patients receiving care at the unit to 294, well above the unit’s capacity of 271 beds, but hospital staff are trying to manage by increasing the number of beds through alternate means.

Twenty-seven of the newly admitted patients were from Rajshahi, seven were from Chapainawabganj, three from Natore and five from Naogaon. Of the 294 patients admitted to the unit, 130 are from Rajshahi, 108 from Chapainawabganj, 14 from Natore, 28 from Naogaon, four from Pabna and one from Kushtia.

Eighteen patients are admitted to the hospital’s ICU.

POSITIVITY RATE JUMPS 16%

After three straight days of falling positivity rates from coronavirus tests at the RMCH labs, the figure has jumped up by nearly 16 percent.

The labs tested 341 people at the coronavirus ‘hotspot’ of Rajshahi on Saturday and 183 tests came back positive, for a positivity rate of 53.67 percent. On Friday the rate was 37.74 percent. It was 38.34 on Thursday and 41.84 on Friday.

A total of 683 COVID tests were conducted for people from four districts at the labs on Saturday, said Director Yazdani, 230 of which came back positive. Of the 158 tests from Chapainawabganj, 26 came back positive, 19 of 150 tests from Natore came back positive, as did two of the four tests from Natore.

LOCKDOWN CONTINUES

Rajshahi is currently in its third day of a week-long ‘strictest lockdown’.

The lockdown started late on Friday afternoon and will continue until Jun 17.

The streets were largely empty in Rajshahi city on Saturday. Stores and shops were closed. But a number of pedestrians could still be seen in the area.

Only pharmacies remain open and only emergency vehicles are allowed on the roads, said Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesman Golam Ruhul Quddus.

“Police have set up checkposts at all roads leading to the city to ensure that no one enters the city limits,” he said. “Patrols are also scouring the area and we are doing our utmost to implement the lockdown.”

MONGLA AT HIGHER RISK

Bagerhat has logged another 55 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to 6 am on Sunday, says Civil Surgeon Dr KM Humayun Kabir.

A total of 110 people in the district were tested for the coronavirus, with a positivity rate of 50 percent, nearly 20 percent higher than the previous day, he said.

Mongla Upazila, the area at highest risk, saw 33 positive results from 59 cases, for a positivity rate of nearly 56 percent.

Mongla’s positivity rate has fluctuated between 40 and 70 percent in the past few days, said Dr Kabir, describing it as a worrying sign.

The neighbouring Morelganj and Sharankhola upazilas are also at risk, he said.

A total of 2,107 cases have been identified in Bagerhat since the start of the pandemic, with 57 deaths from the disease and 1,549 recoveries, according to data from the district civil surgeon’s offices.

The Mongla administration has imposed strict restrictions in the area to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but locals have not been adhering to them, using various excuses to move freely. The restrictions will remain in place until Jun 16.

“Everyone needs to follow health restrictions in order to curb the spread of this disease,” Dr Kabir said.

CHUADANGA IN DESPERATE NEED OF ICU BEDS

The Chuadanga Sadar Hospital does not have an ICU. The Directorate General of Health Services says beds are coming soon, but has yet to give a specific date.

For the moment, the patients who may require advanced care are transferred to hospitals in Dhaka, Rajshahi or Khulna. These hospitals are far away: Chuadanga is 240 km from Dhaka, 165 km from Rajshahi and 128 km from Khulna.

Local health workers said the Sadar Hospital should get ICU beds to prevent deaths.

Chuadanga Sadar Hospital does not have approval for ICU beds, said Dr Awliar Rahman, a medical officer from the Chuadanga Civil Surgeon’s Office.

“We asked for eight beds at first,” he said. “Then we reduced our request to four. I don’t know when we will get them.”

Central oxygen tanks have been set up at the hospital and they have a capacity of 6,200 litres. Currently, 5,644 litres are in stock, but Dr Rahman can’t say how long it will last.

“It could be used up in a day, or last two to three months,” he said.

The local office of the Directorate of Health Services has 54 large and 145 small oxidant cylinders.

Despite these problems, the hospital is doing its best for the patients who they are able to treat, says Mashiur Rahman, a COVID patient at the hospital.

“The food they give to patients is of good quality,” said Rahman, who lives in the Post Office neighbourhood of Chuadanga town. “And they provide good care to patients who aren’t in too bad a state.”

Abul Kalam Azad, the chairman of Uthali Union Parishad in Jibannagar Upazila, is also a patient at the hospital.

“At one point I needed oxygen support, but I am healthy and have tested negative,” he said.

Advocate Alamgir Hossain, president of the Chuadanga Bar Association, tested positive for coronavirus on Jun 12 and is currently in isolation at home.

“The number of new cases in the district continues to rise. It has become essential that Chuadanga, as a border district, gets ICU beds on an emergency basis.”

Chuadanga has had 2,222 cases of the coronavirus in total, said Dr Awliar Rahman. The current caseload is 265. Hospitals have a capacity of 195 beds. Only 38 patients are hospitalised at the moment, while the rest are quarantining at home.