Coronavirus affected US expatriates in Gaibandha
They attended two wedding ceremonies in two different places of Gaibandha’s Sadullahpur upazila. They also met their relatives
A mother and her son, who live in America, arrived in Bangladesh on March 9. The next day they attended two wedding ceremonies at two different places at Sadullahpur upazila in Gaibandha. They also met some of their relatives. One of them, a female, became ill after meeting them. She was suffering from fever, cough and cold, and went to see a local doctor.
On March 20, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) took the blood samples from all of them. The mother and son who had come from the USA got the test report on March 22. Both of them had tested positive for coronavirus.
The female relative's blood report came today, and that revealed she had not been affected by the virus. However, her 10-year-old child has been suffering from cough for seven days. The Business Standard talked to them over the phone. When our correspondent phoned the expatriate mother, she could not receive the call, but she called back later.
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The expatriate mother said she had been suffering from a cough, fever and other symptoms of coronavirus for 14 days. Her son had suffered the same symptoms for eight days. But, "Now we are feeling better," she said.
The female relative of the expatriates told the Business standard that she was fine now.
Admitting that the US expatriates are affected by coronavirus, Abu Hanif, the civil surgeon, told The Business Standard, "They are in home quarantine, but we are monitoring them strictly. We are also trying to identify the people who came in contact with them. These people will also be kept in home quarantine."
Meanwhile on March 22, an upazila committee formed to contain the coronavirus, wrote to the deputy commissioner to request a lockdown of the area. The committee is led by the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) named Nabinewaz. The UNO also forwarded a copy of the letter to the superintendent of police and to the civil surgeon.
However, Abdul Matin, the deputy commissioner of the district, and ABM Abu Hanif, the civil surgeon, said they decided not to impose a lockdown.
