When a 60-year-old man died at Tariakandi village in Titas upazila on Thursday evening after suffering from fever, sore throat and breathing complications, no one came forward to perform his funeral rites.
Even, his family members did not come in contact with the body fearing that he might have died from Covid-19, a disease that claimed nearly 2 lakh lives across the globe within a few months after it was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Later, two representatives of the upazila administration along with several health workers completed his burial through a namaz-e-janaza.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sarfaraz Hossain said the deceased, Sonamati, a hawker, had long been suffering from breathing complications, fever and sore throat. He died on Thursday evening.
However, no one came forward to perform his funeral rites fearing that they might have contacted coronavirus, he said.
On information, two representatives of the upazila administration and three health workers went to the spot and performed the funeral, the UNO said, adding that they collected samples from the body to ascertain whether he was infected with coronavirus.
According to the civil surgeon’s office, five more people were found to have infected with coronavirus in Cumilla in the last 24 hours till Friday noon, taking the total number of infected people in the district to 44.
The coronavirus began snatching human lives from Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in China, and gradually spread to 185 countries across the globe.
Bangladesh reported the first three Covid-19 cases on March 8 and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later on March 18.
Also read: Coronavirus: Two more test positive for coronavirus in Cumilla
According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, 131 people have so far lost their lives after being diagnosed with the coronavirus while 4,689 people tested positive across the country.
When it comes to the global context, the virus claimed 190,872 lives and infected 2,709,483 people as of Friday.