340 cops test positive in 24 hours
Two police personnel died from Covid-19 in Dhaka and Chattogram in the last two days, said police.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Al Mamunur Rashid, a nayek of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's transport division, breathed his last at Central Police Hospital in the capital yesterday, and constable Mokhlesur Rahman at Chattogram General Hospital on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 340 more police personnel were infected in the past 24 hours till yesterday noon, a record figure in a day.
Forty-three-year-old Mamun was in home quarantine after some of his colleagues tested coronavirus positive, said police.
His samples were collected earlier, and test results confirmed that he was Covid-19 positive on Wednesday night, added police.
As his condition deteriorated, he was rushed to Central Police Hospital around 11:30am yesterday where he was declared dead, said Zobayedur Rahman, deputy commissioner (transport division) of DMP.
Mamun from Lakshmipur left behind his wife and two daughters.
Another victim Mokhlesur, 57, a constable of Chattogram district police, was in quarantine after he showed coronavirus symptoms around 10 days ago, said police.
As his condition worsened at the police-arranged quarantine centre in the port city's Agrabad around 5:00am on Wednesday, he was taken to Chattogram General Hospital where doctors declared him dead, said Mohiuddin Sohel, additional deputy commissioner (Special Branch) of Chattogram district police.
His samples were collected after his death, and he tested Covid-19 positive, the police official said, adding that Mokhlesur had other health complications too.
Mokhlesur of Chandpur left behind his wife, three daughters, and a son.
With Mamun and Mokhlesur, 11 police personnel have died so far after being contracted coronavirus while discharging their duties across the country.
The police personnel sacrificed their lives after being infected with Covid-19 while performing their duties to keep people safe, said Sohel Rana, assistant inspector general (media) of Police Headquarters.
The DMP and Chattogram district police expressed condolences over the deaths.
Earlier, constables Naimul Haque, Jalal Uddin Khoka, Asheq Mahmud, and Jasim Uddin; Assistant Sub-inspector Raghunath Roy; ASI Abdul Khaleq; Sub-inspector Sultanul Arefin; SI Mujibur Rahman Talukder; and SI Nazir Uddin breathed their last.
Some 340 police personnel were infected across the country in the last 24 hours till yesterday noon. The figure was the highest in a day, taking the number to 3,235, according to Police Headquarters.
Earlier, the highest number in a day was 241 on May 16.
Of the infected, 1,277 are from Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Some 569 police personnel recovered until yesterday.
Police officials said they took all steps for treating their infected colleagues.
The police authorities recently made arrangements for treating their members at a private hospital as the Central Police Hospital was struggling to deal with the huge number of patients.
Police officials said the number of infected among police is on the rise as it was quite difficult for the police personnel to carry out their duties without coming in contact with people due to their nature of work.
In another development, 20 members of Diplomatic Security Division of DMP, who recently recovered from Covid-19, joined work yesterday.
Ashraful Islam, deputy commissioner of the division, welcomed them with flowers.
The victims were treated from April 21 to May 2 at the Central Police Hospital and they maintained a 14-day isolation after their recovery and release from hospital.
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