BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul and his wife contract coronavirus

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and his wife Rahat Ara Begum have contracted the coronavirus.

Both of them have tested positive for the disease, said BNP Vice Chairman Prof AZM Zahid Hossain. The two had reported feeling unwell for the past few days.

Rahat Ara’s report came on Sunday and Mirza Fakhrul’s on Monday, he said.

“The secretary general and his wife are now under quarantine at their Uttara home and receiving treatment under the supervision of Dr Raihan Rabbani, a doctor at Square Hospital who deals with COVID patients in the ICU,” said Prof Zahid.

He also said that both Mirza Fakhrul and his wife are doing better. They have a little dry cough, but are not showing any other symptoms.

The secretary general made his last public appearance on Jan 8 at a rally attended by thousands of leaders and activists, organised by the Nari O Shishu Odhikar Forum to demand the government allow BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Khaleda Zia had caught COVID-19 on Apr 10 last year. She was quarantined at her Gulshan house for 14 days and received treatment there.

Many other leaders of the BNP, including Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, and Amanullah Aman, contracted the pathogen last year.

While the BNP chairperson and other leaders have recovered from the infection, some other leaders including Kamal Ibne Yusuf, Khurram Khan Chowdhury, Abdul Awal Khan and Ahsanullah Hasan lost their lives due to the disease.