COVID spreads to Rajshahi’s villages, death toll rises by 13

COVID-19 has begun to spread to the villages of Rajshahi, leading to an increase in new cases and hospitalisations in the new ‘hotspot’.

Rajshahi Officebdnews24.com
Published : 16 June 2021, 06:02 AM
Updated : 16 June 2021, 06:02 AM

In the 24 hours to 6 am on Wednesday, 48 patients were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, or RMCH. The hospital is currently caring for 344 patients, but only has beds for 305. Another 13 people have died in that same period.

A week ago, most patients at the hospital were from urban areas but now more are from rural areas, said RMCH Director Brig Gen Shameem Yazdani. This indicates a rise in rural cases and is cause for concern, he said.

The disease is not only causing illness and death among the elderly, it is also affecting younger cohorts, the hospital official added.

The Rajshahi district administration has also expressed concern about the coronavirus outbreak in rural areas and has called an emergency meeting on the issue.

The meeting will be held at Rajshahi’s Circuit House at 8:30 pm on Wednesday, said Deputy Commissioner Abdul Jalil.

The opinion of experts will be taken into consideration and a decision will be made on whether to impose a lockdown in areas outside the city, he said.

13 MORE DEATHS

Another 13 people have died at the RMCH coronavirus unit in the 24 hours to 6 am on Wednesday. Seven of them were men, while six were women. Eight of them hailed from Rajshahi, four from Chapainawabganj and one from Kushtia. A total of 161 people have died at the unit since the start of June.

Five of the dead tested positive for COVID, while the rest were showing symptoms of the disease, including breathing difficulties, said Brig Gen Yazdani. Of the five who tested positive, three hailed from Rajshahi and two from Chapainawabganj.

Among the dead, three were between 31 and 40 years of age, three between 41 and 50, five between 51 and 60 and two above 61.

The hospital increased the number of beds by 34, including two ICU beds, on Tuesday to meet the rush of patients, said Brig Gen Yazdani. The hospital has also written to the Directorate General of Health Services to request 15 additional doctors. Health Services had previously sent 15 doctors to the hospital about a week ago.

As of 6 am on Wednesday, the hospital was caring for 344 patients with only 305 beds, 20 of which had ICU facilities, Yazdani said. Some patients were forced to lie on the floor due to the lack of beds. Of the 48 patients admitted to RMCH in the past 24 hours, 27 were from Rajshahi, eight from Chapainawabganj, seven from Natore, four from Naogaon, and one each from Pabna and Kushtia. Twenty-three patients checked out of the hospital after completing their recovery.

POSITIVITY RATE RISES AGAIN

After two consecutive days of falling positivity rates in Rajshahi, the crucial figure has begun to tick up once more. Two labs in Rajshahi conducted 373 tests on people from the district on Tuesday, 162 of which were positive, for a positivity rate of 43.44 percent. The rate is 13.27 percentage points higher than on Monday. The positivity rate was 41.18 percent on Sunday and 53.67 percent on Saturday.

The two Rajshahi labs tested a total of 646 samples on Tuesday, 229 of which were positive. Of the 133 tests from Chapainawabganj, 32 came back positive, for a positivity rate of 24.07 percent. Natore saw 35 positives from 139 tests, a positivity rate of 25.18 percent.