So far, Bangladesh has confirmed 17 coronavirus patients.

"All three newly-infected patients are the members of the same family. One of them came in contact with someone who recently returned from Italy. One of the patients is a female aged 22 and the rest are males aged 65 and 32," he told a press briefing at IEDCR Conference Room in Mohakhali.

He noted that three new cases are not imported rather local transmission.
Calls to IEDCR hotlines have seen an exponential growth. Dr Azad said 25,916 calls were made in the last 24 hours.
"So far over 200,000 calls have been made," he added.

The DGHS Director told the media that on Thursday the country has received additional 2000 kits for testing the virus.
"One lakh new test kits will be imported shortly," he added.

Dr Azad termed the coronavirus situation in country as 'national disaster' and said,"It is our (doctors) responsibility as we have become physicians and have devoted ourselves to healthcare, to serve people."

He added that government will be providing everything the doctors need to battle the crisis.

"I can't say that we will provide three months’ supply at a time but we will be providing necessary safety clothing and other equipment weekly or daily basis," he said.

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The DGHS Director said safety equipment have been sent to Rajshahi and Dhaka Medical College Hospital has been provided with 500 personal protective equipment (PPE) on Wednesday.

"There will be no shortage of PPE in any medical center," Dr Azad added.
Dr Azad urged everyone to inform the local administration or the health ministry if anyone does not follow the home quarantine rules.

IEDCR Director Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora was absent at the regular briefing as she has been suffering from high blood pressure.

Besides, our Chuadanga correspondent reports: Another young man has been tested positive for coronavirus in the district.

Dr ASM Maruf, the Civil Surgeon of the district and member secretary of the corona prevention committee, made the announcement in an emergency press briefing at his office.

He said the 30-year-old patient returned from Italy on March 12 and he was released from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after primary medical test.

Staying in Dhaka for two days, Maruf said, he returned to Chuadanga on March 14. As he developed the symptoms of coronavirus, he went to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital on March 16, Maruf added.

Later, he was admitted to the corona unit of the hospital.

A team of Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) went to Chuadanga and collected samples which were taken to the IEDCR later.

IEDCR confirmed that the patient was positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night, said the Civil Surgeon. Bangladesh on Wednesday confirmed one death from coronavirus.