Coronavirus patients are 'improving'; no new cases detected: health minister

The three patients who tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Mar 8 -- the country's first confirmed cases of the infection -- are all responding well to treatment, according to Health Minister Zahid Malik.

No new cases of the virus have since been detected, said the minister.

The government's disease control agency, Institute Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR, revealed that three people - two men and a woman -- had contracted the infection. The two men had recently returned from Italy while the woman was related to one of them.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Thursday, Zahid said, "They're condition is quite good. I hope they'll return home soon."

Earlier, five thermal scanners were handed over to the minister on behalf of Summit Group.

"You can't detect the coronavirus using scanners. These are used to measure body temperature. If someone is found to have a high body temperature, he is then subjected to various tests for the virus."

The ministry currently has 10 scanners in hand, said Zahid, adding: "These machines (given by Summit) will be kept as backup in places where scanners have already been installed."

The minister also urged Bangladeshis abroad not return home at the moment in a bid to curb the spread of the virus in the country.