90 health workers including 15 doctors test positive for Covid-19 in Narayanganj
Most of them have been kept in isolation. Some health workers went home after recovering from the virus
A total of 90 health workers including 15 doctors tested positive for Covid-19 in Narayanganj until Monday.
Dr Jahidul Islam, Sadar upazila health officer and focal person of Narayanganj District Corona Prevention Committee, confirmed the matter.
He said, "42 health workers including six doctors and nine nurses of Narayanganj 300-bed Hospital tested positive for coronavirus. Another 12 health workers including one doctor of Narayanganj General (Victoria) 100-bed Hospital tested positive for the virus."
Five officials of Nrayanganj Civil Surgeon Office including the civil surgeon, focal person, two doctors, 10 health workers including three doctors of a private clinic, three persons of Mediplus Hospital, three health workers including one doctor of City Life Hospital and 15 medical workers of other private hospitals and clinics tested positive for Covid-19.
According to District Civil Surgeon Office, most of them have been kept in isolation. Some health workers went home after recovering from the virus.
Narayanganj's civil surgeon Imtiaz Ahmed said, "Doctors of Coronavirus hotspot Narayanganj have been engaged in medical services with courage from the very beginning. The government distributed a sufficient number of PPEs for their security. Hopefully, the number of victims will come down further."
Bangladesh Medical Association blamed that some patients came to the doctors for treatment hiding the information of their Covid-19 symptom and infected many health workers. The association said not getting the personal protective equipment (PPE) including mask on time is another reason for this situation.
However, Dr Shahnewaz, president of Narayanganj Private Clinic Owners' Association, said, "Very few patients hide information. The patients who do not have any symptom of coronavirus go to the doctors with other problems. Most of the cases, they do not have any idea that they are infected by the virus. How can we blame patients for it?"
"The government has to ensure the security of all the doctors and health workers during the pandemic. That will reduce the number of infections of doctors and they will be able to play a courageous role in dealing with the disaster," he said.
Dr Jahidul Islam, health officer of Sadar upazila, said, "Initially, there was a crisis of PPEs. But now there are enough stocks. Physicians and health workers are being supplied the PPEs as per the demand. As Coronavirus has reached social transmission stage in the fourth phase, it is not possible to say how it is spreading."