Health minister inaugurates dedicated Covid-19 hospital building

Health minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday inaugurated a 200-bed building of the Anwer Khan Modern Medical College and Hospital, which will be used only to treat Covid-19 patients.

"The building is equipped with sophisticated facilities. It has 10 ICUs, 10 SDOs and five ventilators. An RT-PCR machine has also been arranged here for coronavirus testing," said the minister.

He informed that the government is doing everything in its capacity to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

A total of 42 labs have been set up for coronavirus testing, and more than 2 million personal protective equipment (PPE) and 1 lakh testing kits have been collected as part of the government measures to deal with Covid-19.

Some 7,000 doctors and nurses were appointed in just 10 days, while the process of appointing technologists is ongoing. More activities are underway to increase the capacity of healthcare sector, Zahid informed.

The health minister said, "A total of 14 hospitals in Dhaka are now dedicated for coronavirus patients. Some 15,000-20,000 people can be treated in these hospitals. The government will increase hospitals dedicated for Covid-19 if needed."

"The government is considering implementing plasma therapy on and administering Remdesivir to patients with Covid-19 shortly," the health minister added.

Among others, Secretary of Health Services Division Asadul Islam, Secretary of Health Education and Family Welfare Division Ali Noor, President of Bangladesh Private Medical College Association Mubin Khan, and the Chairman of Anwer Khan Medical College and Hospital Dr Anwer Hossain Khan were also present at the event.