Bangladeshi returnee from China hospitalised in Dhaka with cold, fever amid coronavirus scare

The authorities have admitted a Bangladeshi national with fever and cold to a hospital in Dhaka on return from China where the death toll from the coronavirus which shows similar symptoms has risen to 170.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 30 Jan 2020, 11:52 AM
Updated : 30 Jan 2020, 01:44 PM

“We are not saying that he is infected with coronavirus. But he has been kept in an isolation unit as extra precaution,” Director General of Health Services Abul Kalam Azad has told bdnews24.com on Thursday.    

The authorities collected blood sample from the patient and he will be kept at the “isolation unit” until all necessary tests are done, Azad said.

“His body temperature has decreased. There is nothing to be afraid,” he added.

The Bangladeshi patient arrived in Dhaka from Guangzhou, according to Azad.

The authorities are screening travellers from China at the airports to stop the spread of the deadly virus. 

Units to isolate suspected coronavirus patients have also been opened at the Kurmitola General Hospital and the Infectious Disease Hospital at Mohakhali in Dhaka following a government decision to quarantine such patients for 14 days.

The patient arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a flight at about 11pm on Wednesday night, Shahriar Sazzad, a doctor at the airport’s health centre, told bdnews24.com.

“He was cleared by the authorities in China. But we collected samples and kept him at an isolated unit of a hospital when his high body temperature arose our suspicion,” he added.

He identified the patient as a software engineer in his 30s.

Two Ansar members wearing masks were seen guarding the isolated unit at one of the hospitals.

No one at the hospital agreed to speak about the patient.