On their findings about the ongoing wrong practices here, the experts pointed that many people wear double masks, slippers showing feet, and do not maintain personal hygiene.

Most of all, the experts emphasized on changing usual social habits in the country, such as, serving refreshments for guests and eating without masks, etc, the Chinese Embassy said in a media release on Friday.

The third day (Thursday) of the Chinese medical experts’ team in Bangladesh has been exceedingly phenomenal through their visit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in the morning and a successful dialogue with National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) of Bangladesh on COVID-19 in afternoon.

Chinese Embassy officials led by Yan Hualong, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), also attended the sessions.

Brig. Gen. A K M Nasir Uddin, Director of DMCH, welcomed the team and briefed about the overall introduction and the current situation of the hospital to the delegates.

The DMCH experts shared their challenges, especially referring to the point that Chinese patients even with mild symptoms are quarantined in makeshift hospitals while Bangladeshis at home, and sought suggestions.

The Chinese side replied to those emphasizing on frequent ventilation and wash of hands in proper manner, wearing mask, rapid disinfection and most of all living completely alone.  

The experts also suggested about keeping identified clean, polluted and semi-polluted areas, and setting up medical personnel and patient channel to cut off the channels of infection in hospital.

At the end, Uddin together with his colleagues gave a standing ovation to the Chinese team honoring their astonishing success back home.

In the afternoon, Professor Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah, Chairman of NTAC, welcomed the team and introduced the whole committee to the experts.

In a two- and-a-half hour long dialogue, the NTAC raised multifarious issues, mostly their challenges and difficulties in this fight, such as: mobilization of medical professionals; rotation of medical staff; operating patients in hospitals; etc.

They also asked about whether it is possible to keep COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients in the same hospital, enhancement of nucleic acid detection capability, and especial Chinese approaches during the initial and uphill period, and sought findings and suggestions on any prevailing mistakes being made in Bangladesh.   

The Chinese experts suggested to rejuvenate the core spirits and commitment of medical professionals and motivate them to save the dying economy by providing special subsidies and ensuring easy promotion to the ranks.

On rotation, they advised setting up roster for each person working for 14 days a round, then going to the designated place for 14 days in isolation, and later resting or continuing to work.

About the hospital management, they said that if patients exceed capacity, another medium-sized hospital can be emptied and converted to an infectious disease hospital, and for the same hospital, it should be divided into different areas.

They advised to prepare more testing laboratories, people and reagents, ensure the nucleic acid testing quality, and structure accuracy to avoid too many false positive and false negative.

The NTAC thanked the team and wished to have more chances for discussion on the days to come.

Yan Hualong from the Chinese Embassy evaluated the sessions as a big success reiterating that the team of experts is play a pivotal role of a bridge of friendship between China and Bangladesh in this hardest, which would certainly take the rapidly growing stronger relationships between the two nations to another new height.