The physician who cured all his patients
A student who returned to Wuhan in mid-February was taken to Barguna General Hospital with symptoms of coronavirus. It created panic among the hospital staffs as they had no training on coronavirus patients. But physician Kamrul Azad, the only specialist in the medicine department of the hospital, was not afraid. He admitted the student to the hospital, kept him in isolation and started treatment. This is how the first isolation ward in the Barishal division came into being.
At one stage, a 50-bed ward was dedicated for coronavirus patients at the 250-bed General Hospital in Barguna. Physician Kamrul Azad was made in-charge of the ward. The ward's medical team under his supervision treated all the coronavirus patients and all of them recovered from the deadly virus. This is the first hospital in Barishal division from where all the coronavirus patients have recovered and gone home. People related to the matter say that this has been possible due to the sincere efforts of the physicians and health workers of the coronavirus ward of Barguna general hospital.
According to hospital officials, as many as 146 people with COVID-19 symptoms were treated at the hospital from 16 February to 5 May.
Of them, 75 patients were sent to home quarantine with prescriptions of medications while the remaining 71 people were treated at the hospital. Among them 11 were coronavirus positive.
According to hospital sources, the China returnee student admitted to the hospital in February was kept in isolation for seven days and given treatment. Later the test reports showed he was coronavirus negative. Yet Kamrul Azad kept him in the institutional quarantine for 14 days to avoid any risk. The coronavirus ward was opened unofficially in the hospital by Kamrul Azad on 13 February. Later on 12 April, the ward was officially inaugurated.
Kamrul Azad told Prothom Alo on Wednesday, "The virus is new. So we had to be very careful when treating a patient infected with coronavirus. It’s not just about the patients, it’s about ourselves.”
About the success the physician said, “All the members of our team worked effortlessly. We treated every patient under separate observation.”
“I believe the first thing these patients need is mental strength. We did that task very seriously as well as trying to take the right steps at the right time. We provided the patients with nutritious foods in case any of them had any nutritional deficiency,” Kamrul Azad added
Sohrab Uddin, the caretaker of the hospital, said, "This has been possible because of the efforts of each member of our medical team and their ability to take immediate action as needed."
Shyamal Krishna Mandal, assistant director of Barishal health department, said, "This is the first hospital in the Barishal division from which all the patients have recovered. This is certainly a matter of hope. We congratulate the medical team. "
Incidentally, 139 coronavirus patients have been identified in six districts of Barishal division till Wednesday. Six of them died. Among those patients, 46 are in Barishal district, 34 in Barguna, 30 in Patuakhali, 13 in Jhalakathi, 11 in Pirojpur and 5 in Bhola.
*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo's print edition, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat