First doctor dies from coronavirus in country

Md Moyeen Uddin, assistant professor at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital (SOMCH), died of Covid-19 yesterday.

He breathed his last around 6:45am at the intensive care unit of the capital's Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH) , Brig Gen Jamil Ahmed, director of the hospital, told The Daily Star.

The 48-year-old tested positive for coronavirus on April 5.

Moyeen left behind his wife and two sons -- aged seven and 12.

He is the first doctor of the country die of Covid-19.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina mourned Moyeen's death and expressed her condolences to his family.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque also expressed condolences, saying, "One of our co-fighters has died; it feels like I have lost a brother."

Moyeen was a specialist of medicine and heart diseases, said Nirupam Das, chief administrator of Bangladesh Doctors Foundation.

According to a tally of the foundation, around 100 healthcare workers, including 54 doctors, in the country have been infected with the virus, he said.

Moyeen will be buried at his village home in Sunamganj's Chhatak upazila, said Ihteshamul Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Medical Association.

The doctor went into self-isolation with Covid-19 like symptoms in the last week of March and his sample was collected on April 4, according to the doctors of SOMCH.

His test results came the next day and he was admitted to the Covid-19 isolation centre in Sylhet Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital on April 7.

On April 8, Moyeen wanted to get admitted at the ICU of SOMCH. But as the hospital authorities refused to admit him, he wished to be transferred to a hospital in Dhaka.

Upon his request, doctors referred him to KGH the same day.

The authorities could not even manage an ambulance with ICU facilities, let alone an air ambulance, forcing his family to bring him to Dhaka all by themselves on the night of April 8.

Asked about the matter, Himangshu Lal Roy, deputy director at SOMCH, said, "There is a two-bed makeshift ICU at the isolation centre of Sylhet Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital. But Moyeen wanted to be placed at the ICU of Osmani Medical College Hospital."

"As per the instruction of the ministry, no Covid-19 patient was supposed to be admitted at regular hospitals other than the isolation centres dedicated for such patients," he said.

He claimed that they tried to arrange an air ambulance but failed.

Asked why they could not manage an ambulance with ICU facilities, he said, "There is no such ambulance in government hospitals."

Professor AFM Nazmul Islam, head of the department of medicine of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, said, "We are shocked to lose our colleague. This is a desperate time and doctors are highly exposed to the virus."

But how could a Covid-19 patient -- be him a doctor or a general patient -- not be treated at the ICU of SOMCH, he questioned.

"To treat emergency patients is the purpose of an ICU. But we let him go to Dhaka instead of treating him here," he said.

"We could have tried our best to treat the doctor we have just lost."

However, Prof Abul Kalam Azad, director general of Directorate General of Health Services, yesterday claimed they took all the measures for Moyeen as per the instruction of the health minister.

During a daily briefing on Covid-19 update through videoconferencing, he said Moyeen had contracted the dicease while treating Covid-19 patients.

He said the prime minister assured that the government would take full responsibility of Moyeen's family.

The family will soon receive the special health insurance for doctors which has been announced recently, the DG also said quoting the PM.

Premananda Mandal, civil surgeon of Sylhet, said 12 people, including family members and a few colleagues of Moyeen, were tested, but no one was found positive.

Hailed from Nadampur village, Moyeen studied at Dhaka Medical College and joined the government service under health cadre.

The demise of the generous doctor has also shocked his villagers who used to visit the medicine specialist for free every weekend.

Askir Miah, a resident of Nadampur, said, "Moyeen used to come to the village almost every weekend and used to treat people free of cost. He used to give away free medicine to the people in need.