A medical technologist (lab) at Khulna General Hospital has decamped allegedly with around Tk 2.5 crore  collected from corona tests of people going abroad. The accused has been identified as Prokash Kumar Das, 45, Khulna Civil Surgeon Dr Niaz Mohammad confirmed on Tuesday. He said his office is preparing to file a case against him. Sources at Civil Surgeon’s office said Prakash was in charge of collecting the fees for Covid-19 test samples taken from the people going abroad. He had been manipulating the number of people taking the tests since July 2 in 2020 to gain illegal financial benefits, according to the allegation. Suspecting foul play, an inquiry committee was formed against Prakash on 22 August. According to the inquiry report, the amount deposited was about Tk 2.58 lakh less than the amount that was supposed to be received. Later, an explanation was sought from him on 22 September and he promised to provide it the following day. Since then he has been missing, the office said Civil surgeon Dr Niaz said the amount of embezzled money was about Tk2.58 crore. The Department of Health and the Health Ministry have already been informed of the incident.

Thirteen more people have died of Covid-19 at four different hospitals in Khulna in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Monday. Twelve of them tested positive while one showed symptoms of the virus, the officials added. Read: Covid claims 51 more lives in Khulna division, another 1,345 infected Of them, 7 died at Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital, three at Gazi Medical College Hospital one at the Covid unit of Khulna General Hospital and two at Shahid Sheikh Abu Naser Hospital Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital nodal officer Dr Suhas Ranjan Haldar said seven people have died at the hospital in the past 24 hours. Currently, some 163 people are undergoing treatment at the hospital. Of them,  87 are being treated in the red zone, 37 in the yellow zone, 19 in the ICU and 20 in the HDU. Read:Covid: Khulna division sees 40 more deaths in a day Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, 23 people have been admitted to the hospital and some 31 discharged after recovery. Dr Gazi Mizanur Rahman, owner of the private Gazi Medical College Hospital, said15 new patients were admitted  to the hospital during the period and  17 discharged. Khulna General Hospital Corona unit spokesman Kazi Abu Rashed said 62 people are currently undergoing treatment. Read: 19 more Covid patients die at Khulna hospitals In the past 24 hours, 12 people have been admitted to the hospital and  15  discharged. Dr Prakash Debnath of  Shahid Sheikh Abu Naser Hospital said that four new patients were admitted during the periled and two discharged after recovery.

An alarming surge of Covid-19 claimed 46 lives in Khulna division in 24 hours until Sunday, the highest single-day fatalities in the region, said divisional health department authorities. The new deaths pushed up the district's overall Covid fatalities to 300, said the authorities. Khulna, now the third most fatal region of the country, saw 1,304 fresh cases during the period taking the caseload to 60,564 as of Sunday. Earlier on Thursday, the division logged the highest 39 deaths in a single day. Director of divisional health office (DGHS) Dr Rasheda Sultana said 15 each died of coronavirus in Khulna and Kushtia, seven in Jashore, two each in Jhenaidah, Magura and Chuadanga and one each in Bagerhat, Satkhira and Meherpur districts during the 24-hour period. Since the confirmation of first Covid cases on March 19, the division saw 1,214 deaths while 40,218 people recovered from the disease. In Khulna district, 150 new cases were detected after testing 436 samples which is 34% of the samples tested as of now, said the DGHS. So far, 16, 387 people have contracted the disease while 11,352 recovered from it in the district. Of the 15 deceased in the district, seven died in Khulna Medical College and Hospital, six in private Gazi Medical College and Hospital and two in Khulna General Hospital’s Covid-19 wards. Also read: Khulna Division sees highest daily death toll of 32 in single day Dr Suhash Ranjan Halder from KMCH said 197 Covid patients are currently being treated at the hospital, 102 are in the red zone, 41 in the yellow zone and 20 each in ICU and HDC wards. Dr Kazi Abu Rashed, a spokesperson at Khulna General Hospital, said 65 patients are now being treated at the hospital’s Covid-19 unit. Meanwhile, Dr Gazi Mizanur Rahman of Gazi Medical Hospital said 20 of the 115 Covid patients currently admitted to the hospital are in the HDU. As these three hospitals were struggling to keep up with the pressure of soaring Covid patients, a new Covid-19 unit was opened on Saturday at specialized Shahid Sheikh Abu Naser Hospital. “In the first 24 hours of opening, 24 Covid patients were admitted until Sunday,” said spokesperson of the hospital, Dr Prakash Debnath. Also read: Lockdown-induced price hike making life in Khulna miserable Why Khulna seeing such an alarming surge? Health experts have indicated some incidents that might have caused such a severe surge in this region. Neglecting health rules during the winter as number of cases of failure to maintain proper quarantine of the India returnees infected with the Delta variant, then the Eid rush of homebound people and packed gathering in the cyclone centres during cyclone Yaas only added to the woes, they said “The cases surged following the trend of previous year at this time but this year the spike is more alarming due to the severity of the new variant,” said medical officer of Khulna Civil Surgeon Sadia Monwara Usha. “Most patients dying in hospitals are aged 60-70 years… they come to hospitals in such critical health conditions that we’ve nothing to do,” she said. Civil Surgeon Dr Niaz Mohammod said ignoring health rules is the number one cause behind the worsening Covid situation in Khulna. Also read: Khulna gasps for breath Regarding the Delta variant spread, he said, “It is not that all the Covid cases are of the same variant in this region. There’re some patients in Satkhira and Jashore who have been infected with the Delta variant.” However, Dr Rasheda Sultana Director of Khulna health office said, “Due to the new variant, it’s hard for patients to understand they could be infected with Covid-19. As they waste time seeking health services, the number of deaths rises in this region.”

Thirteen more people have died of Covid-19 at three different hospitals in Khulna in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Wednesday. While two persons died at the dedicated Covid facility of Khulna Medical College, three succumbed to Covid at the corona unit of Khulna General Hospital and the remaining eight passed away at the private Gazi Medical College Hospital. Read: Khulna Division sees highest daily death toll of 32 in single day Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital's nodal person Dr Suhas Ranjan Haldar said that the two persons died in the red zone of the hospital in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, as many as 44 new patients have been admitted to the hospital and 28 discharged after recovery since Tuesday morning. Read: 28 more Covid deaths recorded in a day in Khulna A total of 201 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. Gazi Mizanur Rahman, owner of Gazi Medical College Hospital, said that eight people died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. Besides, 85 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital.