[Sabrina Yeasmin/BenarNews]
Seriously ill COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh are being turned away from hospitals due to an acute shortage of Intensive Care Unit beds amid spiraling infections, a local health expert told BenarNews on Monday, blaming the government for not acting rapidly in installing these facilities.
A government official, meanwhile, acknowledged to BenarNews that the administration had been unprepared for the 18-fold increase in new cases in the past two months.
To control the worsening pandemic, Bangladesh on Monday ordered the shutdown of all offices, banks, and domestic and international transport for eight days starting Wednesday, authorities said.
“There is a huge shortage of ICU beds as our health service did not give the necessary attention to the matter. As a result, most districts are still out of ICU coverage,” virologist Dr. Nazrul Islam, who is a member of a national committee on COVID-19, told BenarNews.