Satkhira put under 7-day strict lockdown
The local administration has imposed a seven-day strict lockdown in Satkhira district to stem the spread of Covid-19 amid recent hike in infections in the frontier districts, reports UNB.
Civil surgeon Hussain Shafayat announced the decision following a meeting of Covid-19 protection committee Thursday. The lockdown will come into effect from Saturday.
During the lockdown people will not be allowed to get out of their home unless there is an emergency. Shopping malls, shops and restaurants will remain closed. Vehicular movements in the district will also remain closed.
The coronavirus transmission rate as compared to the total number of tests was 41 per cent on 1 June in Satkhira.
Menwhile, number Covid cases are growing alarmingly in Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Khulna, Kushtia, Jashore, Naogaon and Natore since the last week of May apparently for the prevalence of the highly transmissible Indian variant. Strict restrictions were imposed in Rajshahi, parts of Khulna and Naogaon districts.
Amid the growing Covid-19 cases, health experts fear that Bangladesh’s frontier districts await a serious healthcare crisis as most hospitals and health complexes there are ill-equipped to cope with any worsening situation.
9 more died in Rajshahi Medical
As many as nine Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours in Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital as many as nine Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Thursday.
Deputy director of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, Saiful Ferdous, said, “All of the deceased were undergoing treatment at the hospital. They died as their condition worsened.”
“Of the deceased, five were from Chapainawabganj district, two from Rajshahi, and one each from Naogaon and Pabna districts,” he added.
With the fresh deaths, the district's fatality count has reached 77 people since 24 May.
The frontier districts of Bangladesh have adequate oxygen in their stocks to deal with Covid-19 patients, DGHS spokesperson Nazmul Islam said on Wednesday.
“Although the coronavirus transmission rate in border lying districts is much higher than the rest of the country, there’s no need to panic as hospitals have adequate medical supplies alongside oxygen in their stocks,” said the spokesperson of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).