Four more people have tested positive for novel coronavirus in the country, taking the number of confirmed cases to 48, said the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) yesterday.

Of the four, two are physicians, said IEDCR Director Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora at her regular press briefing on Covid-19.

They are aged between 20 and 60. All of them, except one, were infected after coming in contact with Covid-19 patients, she added.

Briefing journalists through video conferencing from the capital's Mohakhali, the IEDCR director urged people to follow the instructions of the government, IEDCR, health ministry, and local administrations to contain the spread of the virus.

Earlier, IEDCR had a control room for addressing the queries of the people, but it has now control rooms in every district and upazila to help the people and make them aware, she said.

On top of that, a combined control room was launched, under the supervision of Directorate General of Health Services where different organisations are working to mitigate the crisis.

Reiterating that testing services are being extended, the IEDCR director said despite limitations, they were trying their best to fight the disease.

Besides IEDCR, three more organisations, including Institute of Public Health, Dhaka Shishu Hospital, and Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases of Chattogram, are now carrying out tests.

Ensuring personal protective equipment for all people concerned is a huge challenge, Prof Flora said several national, international organisations, NGOs, and local businesses were helping them to arrange PPEs for all.

Eleven people out of 48, who tested positive, were released from hospitals and five died from the virus so far.

Now 32 people are undergoing treatment at different hospitals, the IEDCR director added.

On March 8, the IEDCR confirmed the first case of coronavirus infection in the country. After a six-day gap, two more Covid-19 cases were confirmed.

Since then, the number of Covid-19 patients has been increasing.

In the last 24 hours, 3,374 people was sent to quarantine. Over 50,000 people have so far been kept in quarantine, Prof Flora added.

Meanwhile, a 70-year-old man died yesterday after suffering from fever in Kagojpukur village in Jashore's Benapole, reports our Benapole correspondent.

Family members said he came back from India a week ago.

Police hoisted a red flag at the house, suspecting that the man had coronavirus infections.

Shubhankar Kumar Roy, medical officer at Sharsha Upazila Health Complex, said they were not sure whether the elderly man died of Covid-19.

In Noakhali, a 24-year-old man breathed his last on Thursday night at Chowmuhani after vomiting blood and suffering from fever, reports our correspondent there.

Following the death, police imposed restrictions on entering and coming out of the building the victim was residing in.

Police also imposed similar restrictions on two adjacent buildings, said Harun-ur-Rashid, officer-in-charge of Begumganj Police Station.

Police said the victim was an office assistant at a local dental clinic.

He returned home from Dhaka with fever three days ago. Later, he took primary treatment, police added.

Asim Kumar Das, Begumganj upazila health and family planning officer, said the man had no coronavirus symptoms.

He said they collected samples and sent those to IEDCR for test.

In another development, fearing coronavirus infections, a 16-year-old boy was admitted to Chandpur General Hospital yesterday with cold, cough, and breathing problems, our district correspondent adds.

He was kept in isolation, said Sujauddaula Rubel, the hospital's resident medical officer (RMO).

Another RMO Asibul Hasib and two ward boys, who provided treatment to the patient, were sent to home quarantine, he said.

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