Country in the right position to fight against coronavirus: health minister says

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque today said that the country is now exactly in the right position to fight against Coronavirus, although there were delays initially in understanding the situation.

The minister came up with the remarks while attending the annual work agreement programme of the Bureau of Health Education at the secretariat.

The health minister stated that 60 percent of the Coronavirus-dedicated beds in hospitals are vacant due to measures taken by the government during the pandemic.

Earlier, central oxygen system was available only in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, but now those have been installed in around 70 hospitals in districts level, he said.

Hundreds of physicians are taking treatment for Covid-19 online, Maleque said, adding that treatments in hospitals are following the latest advice of the World Health Organization, which has resulted in "reducing the number of infections."

Moreover, 30,000 nurses will be appointed to accelerate the improvement, he added. 

Meanwhile, Bangladesh on Thursday recorded 48 more deaths from coronavirus and 2, 695 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the death tally to 3,083.

So far, 234,889 people have been infected by the virus, according to the health authorities.