A 10-member taskforce headed by Dr Nurunnabi Laizu, principal, RMCH, started the testing collecting samples from seven coronavirus suspects at the hospital, said Dr Mostanur Rahman , head of Microbiology Department.
Also read:1,000 samples of corona suspects to be tested by Friday: DGHS
Dr Mostanur said they will test samples of the patients admitted to the hospital with cough, fever and breathing complications.
Besides, they will test samples collected by the medical teams from patients staying at home.
RMCH Principal Dr Laizu said they received the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for detecting COVID – 19 and installed at the laboratory of Microbiology Department.
They have 240 kits and around 500 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the lab, he said adding that five doctors and two trained medical technologists are conducting the test.
It would be possible to test 90–96 samples per day and it will take 4–6 hours to get the reports, he added.
Earlier in the day, Md Habibur Rahman, director of Management Information System at Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said at least 1,000 samples of people with coronavirus symptoms will be tested across the country by Friday.
Two more people tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday in Bangladesh, raising the total number of cases in the country to 56.
The country has so far reported six deaths from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the global death toll from COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus jumped to 49,160 as of Thursday.
It has so far infected 961,392 people around the world, according to worldometer.