648 home-quarantined in Chandpur: Official

Although no-one has tested positive for coronavirus, a total of 648 Bangladeshi expatriates who returned home recently from abroad have been kept in home-quarantine in eight upazilas of the district till Friday as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mohammad Abdullah Al Mahmud Zaman, additional deputy commissioner of Chandpur, said the Bangladeshi nationals returned home from different countries in the last 15-16 days.

All of them have been placed in self-isolation at their respective homes following the detection of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, he said. "They've been advised to stay at their respective homes for 14 days."

Zaman, however, said no-one of the Bangladeshi expatriates tested positive for coronavirus.

He also informed that leaflets are being distributed among people at bus stands, launch terminals and educational institutions in all eight upazilas of the district to make people aware about Covid-19 disease.

Civil Surgeon of the district Dr Md Sakhawat Ullah told UNB that medical teams are ready in all the upazilas to tackle any situation while local representatives have been creating awareness in their respective areas.

Meanwhile, one of the three coronavirus patients returned home after making full recovery, said Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora on Friday.

She came up with the information at a press briefing arranged by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) at Mohakhali in the city.

"Two of the three infected patients have recovered fully. One of them has returned home while another is still at the hospital as some of the patient's family members are quarantined at home," Dr Flora said.

She said no new case of coronavirus has been detected in the country in the last 24 hours.

Besides, the death toll from the coronavirus has crossed 5,000 globally as of Friday evening.

A medical staffer watches from a tent at one of the emergency structures that were set up to ease procedures at the Brescia hospital, northern Italy.AP Photo

According to worldometer, the Covid-19 disease killed a total of 5,082 people as of Friday evening. Besides, it has infected 138,271 people around the world.

Of them, 62,470 are currently infected while 70,719 patients recovered.

The coronavirus has affected 132 countries and territories around the world, and one international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan).