Coronavirus suspicion: 7-month-old baby sent to Dhaka from isolation ward in Kushtia

A seven-month-old baby, who was put in an isolation ward at Kushtia General Hospital on suspicion of coronavirus infection, was sent to Dhaka along with the mother for better treatment this afternoon.

"We shared the symptoms of the baby with the IEDCR and following its instruction we sent the baby to Dhaka around 4:30pm," our Kushtia correspondent reports quoting Tapas Kumar Sarkar, residential medical officer of the hospital.

Two doctors of the hospital were sent to home quarantine as they were engaged in treating the patient, the doctors told our correspondent.   

Tapas said family members brought the baby to the hospital on March 25. The baby has fever, cold and cough.

The child was admitted to the pediatric ward for treatment. But the baby's condition worsened on Thursday and was undergoing treatment for pneumonia.

The RMO said on-duty doctors and nurses repeatedly questioned the family members whether any of the relatives returned to the country recently but the family members denied.

The family today admitted that the baby's father was an expatriate who returned to Bangladesh from Singapore on March 9 and since then he had been living with his family, the RMO said.

"So, we have taken the baby to an isolation unit," RMO added.

As the news spread, most of the family members of the baby including the father fled from the hospital premises.

Kushtia Deputy Commissioner Aslam Hossain said keeping all the family members in quarantine is underway.

Kushtia Civil Surgeon Anwar Hossain said they are trying to trace the doctors and nurses involved in treating the baby since the period of admission into the hospital.

The civil surgeon said the hospital has a 20-bed isolation unit, PPE and other equipment for doctors and nurses for treating the patient.

"The matter has been reported to IEDCR. They will collect samples from the baby," the CS said.