93 doctors-nurses, 9 policemen tested coronavirus positive in Kishoreganj

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) declared Kishoreganj as a coronavirus hotspot on Tuesday with 141 patients, including 41 doctors, 10 nurses, 42 health workers, nine policemen and one executive magistrate testing positive for the virus so far.

Coronavirus scare has gripped the residents of Kishoreganj, with health experts saying community transmission is the reason behind such an outbreak in the district.

Our correspondent reports people from Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi and other nearby districts flocked to different areas of Kishoreganj after the government announced general holidays on March 26.

These outsiders spread to the entire district within days before the authorities concerned or the health department could take any protective measures.

Deputy Director of the district's Shahid Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College Hospital believes that outsiders were the reason why the coronavirus situation deteriorated in the district.

Assistant Professor of the same medical college Dr Badal Wahad said some of the returnees are going to the hospitals and clinics to see the doctors hiding information regarding their symptoms. This is making health workers in those hospitals exposed to the virus infection.

One of these returnees, who went to the district's Karimganj upazila from Dhaka, died with the symptoms of coronavirus on April 6. His samples were sent to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and the coronavirus test results came positive. 

Some 16 doctors and health workers got infected with the virus while collecting samples from him. Three of the family members of the deceased were also tested positive for the virus.

Kishoreganj District Civil Surgeon Dr Md Mujibur Rahman said community transmission is the reason behind the rapid spread of coronavirus in the district.