Coronavirus-positive man flees home but ends up in abandoned hospital

A coronavirus patient has been kept in an abandoned hospital in Cumilla.

The man hailing from Lakshmipur district had gone to Cox's Bazar a few days ago. After coming back home, he fell sick and went for a coronavirus test.

However, after his test results came out positive on Saturday, he fled to Nangalkot in Cumilla.

Being informed about the incident, the Nangalkot thana police caught the patient and put him into the desolate hospital.

The Goharua Hospital in Cumilla was built almost a decade ago but it is yet to be opened for treatment. Abandoned for years, the infrastructures of the hospital are now in a decaying state.

Conscious people, through social media posts, however, are protesting against keeping the patient in the abandoned hospital.

Human rights activists have also expressed anger over the police behavior with the patient and termed it inhuman.

Naem Nizam, editor of Daily Bangladesh Protidin, posted a status on his Facebook page throwing a question towards the authorities concerned as to why they did not open the hospital despite repeated requests over the last 12 years. "How would that patient get treatment in an abandoned hospital? Where is humanity?" he asked.

Aminul Haque, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission said, "We need to take care of coronavirus-infected patients. Keeping a patient in a deserted hospital is inhuman."

Officer-in-Charge of Nangalkot police station Bakhteyar Uddin said police on Saturday night got information that a coronavirus patient had fled to Nangalkot from Lakshmipur. He was held at a railway station in Nangalkot.

District Civil Surgeon Dr Niyatul Zaman said, "The patient will be sent back to his home in Noakhali."