DGHS urges people over 40 should take caution

People over the age of 40 should be cautious regarding Covid-19 during the second wave. Mostly, people over the age of 60 have been severely affected by Covid-19 in Bangladesh, but people aged 40 and above are also getting infected and dying during the second wave.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Sunday said that in a daily bulletin. The DGHS issued “special warning” for the age group in this regard.

The DGHS spokesperson Nazmul Islam presented the details at a press breifing that reconvened on Sunday after a hiatus of eight months, following a steep rise in cases.

More than 15,000 Covid-19 samples have been collected in the last 24 hours.

Ten new ICUs have been set up at Suhrawardy, Kuwait Maitri, and Kurmitola General hospitals each. Also, the newly built Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Covid-19 Hospital that was inaugurated on Sunday has 200 ICU facilities.

Covid-19 infections have increased at an upward pace in March-April. In January, there were 21,000 infected. In February, the number dropped further, but in March it stood at 65,000 and in April it exceeded 100,000 already, he said.

In order to reduce the infections, lockdown has been imposed in the country so that the infection rate can be reduced by controlling human movement, said the DGHS spokesperson.

He added that oxygen cylinder support has been provided in the districts, which will gradually increase over time. Around 17,900 oxygen cylinders were deployed across the country.

At the Covid-19 bulletin he said: “We will soon arrange for rapid antigen kits for faster Covid-19 testing, so that test results can be given easily within an hour. Then more tests can be conducted to detect infections.”

On the other hand, entry to Bangladesh has been stopped from 17 more countries through various points of entry. Passengers from those countries will not be allowed to enter via transit through any other countries.