55-year-old with respiratory problems dies in Sylhet

A 55-year-old woman, who was suffering from fever, cough and respiratory problems, died at home in Sunamganj early this morning.

She was cremated before local health officials reached her residence and her husband, who is also suffering from similar symptoms, was sent to the Corona Isolation Centre in Sylhet's Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital, our Sylhet correspondent reports quoting Sunamganj Civil Surgeon Dr Md Shams Uddin.

"The woman was a patient with chronic high blood pressure and was suffering from fever, cough and respiratory problems for some time. After her physical condition deteriorated, her family brought her to Sunamganj Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared her dead," he said.

"Her family then took her back home and cremated her before we came to know. We promptly formed a team to investigate the matter because of suspicion of coronavirus.

"After visiting her family, we convinced the woman's husband, who is also exhibiting similar symptoms, to go to the Corona Isolation Centre in Sylhet. All their family members are in home quarantine.

"There is no information that the family came into contact with any foreign returnees, but we are taking the matter into consideration and as we could not test her for coronavirus, we will test her husband to make sure of it," the civil surgeon said.

Dr Anisur Rahman, assistant director of health in Sylhet division, said, "The man will be tested soon to diagnose whether he has been infected with coronavirus."