A Dhaka slum locked down after resident tests coronavirus positive
A temporary worker of National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre tested positive today
A slum in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar was put under lockdown on Wednesday after a resident tested positive for coronavirus.
The resident of Motaharer slum, who is also a temporary worker of National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre, tested positive today, said Jan-e-Alam, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, reports UNB.
There are around 300-350 families in the slum. They locked the slum around 5am, he added.
The risk of coronavirus spread has increased after detecting the first case in a slum, former Vice-Chancellor and Virology Specialist at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Professor Nazrul Islam told the Business Standard.
"The slum is now under lockdown, home quarantine is not possible in slum, which will increase the risk of further transmission. This is why those who came in contact with the sick patient has to be sent to institutional quarantine" he added.
"The risk of spreading infection will be reduced if a slum can fully lockdown providing required food. Adequate relief for slum dwellers must be ensured during lockdown. Otherwise they will be out for meal," Professor Nazrul Islam said further.
Three more people died from coronavirus in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 20, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
Besides, 54 other people tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the number of such cases in the country to 218, IEDCR said.
