BITID head tests COVID-19 positive

The head of Chattogram’s Faujdarhat lab of the Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID), Shakeel Ahmed, tested positive for coronavirus infection on Tuesday.

The assistant professor has been in-charge of the team for conducting tests for coronavirus for the past two months in Chattogram.

As many as 97 people including general secretary of Chittagong Press Club Chowdhury Farid tested positive for the deadly virus infection on the same day.

Chattogram civil Surgeon Sheikh Fazle Rabbi confirmed this to Prothom Alo adding that the total number of infected in the district stands at 1,975.

A total of 507 samples were tested at BITID, Chittagong Medical College (CMC), Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) and Cox's Bazar Medical College Lab on Tuesday. Of these, 101 samples tested positive for coronavirus of which there were three old patients who tested positive again.

A total of 331 samples were tested in BITID lab and of which 51 were positive.

Shakeel Ahmed, the head of BITID the lab, had been conducting sample tests in Chattogram from 26 March, from the very beginning of the virus outbreak in the district. He tested himself for some symptoms recently and the report came out to be positive.