DHAKA, SEOUL: Bangladesh Health Ministry officials confirmed on Sunday that three people had tested positive for the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, even as South Korea set up 50 newly installed drive-thru stations in the country for screening of any coronavirus infections.
Two of the Bangladeshis had returned from Italy recently and they were from different families, Dr. Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR), told a media briefing. “After they went back to their homes, they called our hotlines to get tested. Later, they tested positive,” she said.
Authorities began screening everyone who came into contact with those two people and were able to identify the third individual as a result. The identities of the three will not be disclosed for security reasons.
“Three others who were in contact are in quarantine at the moment,” Flora said, urging people not to panic as everything was “under control.” Bangladesh has restricted the entry of visitors from four countries — Italy, South Korea, Japan, and Kuwait — if they fail to provide medical certificates confirming they are infection-free.
“We are fully prepared to address any health emergency as we had almost two months for preparations,” Dr. A.S.M. Alamgir, chief scientific officer of the IEDCR, told Arab News.
“Isolation units in all government-run hospitals across the country are now ready to deal with any coronavirus cases. Our health officials are also well-equipped with proper guidelines under the national health emergency plan in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.” Since Jan. 21, when the first cases of coronavirus were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a total of 479,008 passengers have been screened at different land, sea, and air ports across Bangladesh.
Authorities are using handheld infrared devices to screen inbound passengers as most thermal scanners are out of order at major airports.
“We had seven thermal scanners in the country but six of them are inoperational,” Dr. Ayesha Akther, from the Ministry of Health, told Arab News.
“The only functioning one is at Dhaka international airport. However, there is no big difference in identifying the infected passengers with the handheld scanners ... many other countries in this region are using the same.” She added that the government was hoping to receive five thermal scanners from the WHO soon.
South Korea
Cars line up single file at one of 50 newly installed drive-thru stations in South Korea. However, instead of serving burgers and fries, these stations act as testing centers for the deadly coronavirus outbreak which has killed 3,000 people across the world.
South Korea has been named as one of the countries responsible for the spread of the highly contagious virus and authorities say they launched the initiative to tackle the outbreak.
“We took a cue from a doctor in Incheon and started operating the drive-thru testing station for the first time on Feb. 24,” a medical professional at Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital told Arab News, asking not to be identified. “It’s not important who started it first. It is important that the drive-thru testing system is effective in protecting the patients and medical staff.”
Medical staff at the drive-thru are clad in protective gear and check drivers for fever or breathing difficulties. They then use swabs to take samples from the drivers’ throats and noses. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes and also involves authorities sterilizing the vehicles.
“We can diagnose lots of people in a short period of time, which helps detect coronavirus more effectively,” Dr. Seo Wan-seok, vice-director of Yeongnam University Medical Center in Daegu, the center of the country’s coronavirus spread, told Arab News.
The drive-thru stations also helped lower the risks of infection as patients stayed in their cars, thereby “blocking the possibility of person-to-person transmission.” Each drive-thru site can test nearly 400 people in one day. Unlike at a hospital, where only 20 samples can be collected in a day, the drive-thru station collects 60 samples every day.
South Korea’s virus cases topped 7,000 on Sunday with most new infections reported in Daegu and neighboring North Gyeongsang province.
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