Covid-19 Cases in S’pore: One Bangladeshi patient in ‘very critical condition’

One of the five Bangladeshis infected with coronavirus in Singapore is in "very critical condition", Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said yesterday.

Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan gave the updates during a telephone conversation with his Bangladeshi counterpart earlier in the morning.

The 39-year-old Bangladeshi patient who has been kept in the intensive care unit (ICU) for the last 13 days has not been responding to the medicine given to him, the minister informed referring to the updates.

The patient had been suffering from respiratory and kidney disease before he got infected with coronavirus.

"They [the Singapore government] are doing their best to take care of him with medical services of the highest level," Momen told reporters following the inauguration of an OIC meeting in Dhaka.

Four other Bangladeshi patients are also undergoing treatment for coronavirus at Singapore's National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

Besides, five other Bangladeshis, who are not infected but had stayed with those who are, have been quarantined there.

The foreign minister said that the Singaporean government is making sure that no other Bangladeshi gets infected there.

In last 24 hours, three more people had been infected with coronavirus in Singapore, raising the number of patients to 81, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) said in a press release yesterday,

Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday reiterated his call not to pay heed to rumours regarding coronavirus, said a press release from the ministry.

No rumours regarding coronavirus would be tolerated in the country, he said while speaking to the journalists following his visit to the newly-constructed building of the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) in Dhaka.

"A vested quarter is trying to spread rumours saying coronavirus will spread from consuming chicken or by being near anyone who has returned from China," he said.

Saying that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is regularly updating information about coronavirus, the minister urged people not to pay attention to information provided by anyone else and to follow DGHS directives.

He said the government is fully prepared to prevent coronavirus.

"So far, over two lakh inbound passengers have been screened at different ports of the country. None of the 72 people tested [further] were coronavirus positive. So, there is no coronavirus patient in the country. But we are fully prepared in case of detection," he added.

According to the IEDCR, 15,633 incoming passengers were screened at all airports, seaports and land ports across the country in 24 hours till 3:00pm yesterday. None of them had any coronavirus symptoms.