Cold-Related Diseases: 5,945 fall ill in last 24 hrs
Amid an outbreak of winter illnesses, at least 5,945 people took treatment at government facilities in the 24 hours until 8:00am yesterday.
This has been the highest since the mild cold wave began on Thursday, according to data from the Directorate General of Health Services.
Met office forecasts continued cold and foggy weather for several days with rainfall in several regions of the country, followed by another cold wave from Saturday.
Flights and river traffic were disrupted in some places due to dense fog yesterday.
Of the people who took treatment yesterday, 967 were admitted to hospitals with acute respiratory infection, 2,059 with diarrhoea, and 2,919 with fever, eye inflammation, skin diseases, jaundice and other conditions, officials said.
Meanwhile, cold-related ailments reportedly caused 44 deaths across the country between November 1 and December 24, officials said. Khagrachhari and Panchagarh recorded 10 deaths each.
“During every winter, an outbreak of cold-related ailments happens and it is normal. It outbreaks spread until the end of December. This year, it may stay longer,” Aysha Akter, assistant director (control room) at DGHS, told The Daily Star.
“People, especially the children, should dress warm, try not to stay outside in the morning and evening, drink safe water and eat enough vegetables,” she said.
Meanwhile, the temperature in Panchagarh plummeted to 6.2 degrees Celsius yesterday morning, the lowest recorded this season, officials said.
On January 8 last year, mercury fell to 2.6 Celsius in Tetulia, the lowest-ever recorded in Bangladesh, reports UNB.
Yesterday, a mild to moderate cold wave swept over Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions and the regions of Tangail and Kushtia, according to Met office.
Yesterday, temperature was 8.3 Celsius in Rangpur, 6.8 in Dinajpur, 7.7 in Kurigram, 7.4 in Naogaon, 9.6 in Chuadanga and 13 in Dhaka.
Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport resumed at 7:30am after a five-and-a-half-hour suspension.
“Due to thick fog, visibility came down to 60 metres,” said Group Captain HM Touhid-ul-Ahsan, director of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, ferry services on Shimulia-Kathalbari and Paturia-Daulatdia routes across the Padma river were disrupted due to foggy weather.
Our Faridpur Correspondent reports, the Shimulia-Kathalbari ferry services resumed at 10:00am after nine hours. The Paturia-Daulatdia services resumed at 9:00am after 11 hours.
Over 1,000 vehicles got stuck in tailbacks at the ferry terminals.
Officials distributed warm clothes and child food among poor people in Rajshahi.
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