First Bangladeshi infected by coronavirus in Singapore

A Bangladeshi national has been infected with coronavirus in Singapore, according to country’s Ministry of Health (MOH) latest press release issued on Sunday.

“Case 42 is a 39 year-old male Bangladesh national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China,” the press release said.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Singapore Md Mustafizur Rahman also confirmed the case, United News of Bangladesh quoted.

"Yes, it’s true. The patient is a construction worker of 39 from Leo Dormitory at Kaki Bukit area. He didn’t go to China, so it’s a local transmission. He got symptoms first on February 1 and went to GP for treatment. However, he has been diagnosed as coronavirus infected only today (Sunday) afternoon,” he said.

Due to the Singapore policy, they did not yet disclose the name and the details of the infected person, the high commissioner said. “What we could know is that he is currently quarantined at the National Infectious Disease Hospital. We’ve already urged the Migrant Workers Centre and Ministry of Health for the details,” he said, expressing the hope that they will be able to know more on Monday morning.

The Bangladeshi’s symptoms surfaced on February 1, and he went to a GP clinic on Feb 3 and Changi General Hospital on February 5, the newspaper reports.

He was admitted to the intensive care unit at Changi General Hospital after a follow-up appointment at Bedok Polyclinic on February 7, it said.

The total number of people infected in Singapore has risen to 43, according to the newspaper.

Meanwhile, in a written reply Bangladeshi High Commissioner in Singapore, Md. Mustafizur Rahman, on Monday morning informed this reporter that a Bangladeshi worker has been diagnosed to have coronavirus infection on Sunday.

“He is a construction worker of 39 living in Leo Dormitory at Kaki Bukit area. He did not go to China, so it is a local transmission. He got symptoms first on 1st February and went to GP for treatment,” he added.

He said: “Due to the Singapore policy, they did not disclose the name and other details of the infected person yet. What we could know is that he is currently quarantined at the National Infectious Disease Hospital. We have already requested Migrant Workers Centre and Ministry of Health for the details. Ministry of Health informed us that they will contact the High Commission as and when necessary.”

Rahman also said that they were monitoring the situation.

More than 900 people have now died in mainland China from the coronavirus that emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year with the World Health Organization (WHO) deploying a team to the country to investigate the outbreak.

China's National Health Commission reported there were 97 new fatalities from the virus on February 9, which brought the death toll on the mainland to 908, most of which are in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

A total of 40,171 infections have been confirmed nationwide.

Besides, At least 25 countries including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain, Philippine and India have confirmed cases and several nations have evacuated their citizens from Hubei. Major airlines have suspended flights to and from China in an attempt to stop the spread.

Kamruzzaman