Covid-19 cases on rise in Rangpur city

The number of Covid-19 patients is increasing alarmingly in Rangpur city, as the residents are not aware enough of using masks and maintaining social distance.

However, the figure is comparatively low in the upazila areas under the district.

According to data from the civil surgeon office, 1,515 people were infected with Covid-19 in the entire Rangpur as of Tuesday. Of them, 1,060 alone tested positive in the city. The rest 455 are in the eight upazilas.

In Rangpur city, 18 people died from the coronavirus, 253 persons are undergoing treatment and 788 fully recovered, it said.

Outside the city, 34 people tested positive in Sadar upazila; among them, 27 recovered and seven people are receiving treatment. No death was reported there.

Fifty-six people were infected in Kaunia upazila; 30 of them recovered, and 26 are being treated. In Pirgachha upazila, 56 persons tested positive, two persons died and 44 recovered. Ten people are receiving treatment.

Seventy-four were infected in Gangachara upazila; of them, 40 recovered while 34 are undergoing treatment. In Taraganj upazila, 29 persons were infected and all of them recovered.

In Badarganj upazila, 50 persons tested positive for Covid-19 and 31 of them recovered. In Mithapukur, 88 persons tested positive; of them, 65 got cured and two died.

In Pirganj, 68 persons were infected, four people died and 23 recovered while 41 are undergoing treatment.

So far, 26 people died in entire Rangpur. Among them, 18 deaths were reported in the city; four in Pirganj, and two each in Mithapukur and Pirgachha upazilas. No death was reported in five other upazilas.

Civil Surgeon Dr Hirambo Roy said the number of Covid-19 patients in Rangpur City Corporation areas is higher than that of the village areas as the city is more crowded. Traffic congestion is one of the factors, they said.

Moreover, the city people are not aware enough. Most of them do not use mask and hardly maintain social distancing, he said.

Although the Deputy Commissioner office in Rangpur issued a set of health directives for the authorities of markets and shopping malls in the city to slow down the infection rate, they are not paying proper attention to the guidelines, said locals.

In Rangpur city, people depend on battery-run three-wheelers to commute to their destinations every day. During the pandemic, the city corporation authorities asked the drivers to carry only three passengers. But both the drivers and passengers are violating the rule.

Khandakar Fakhrul Anam, convener of Coronavirus Protection Committee in Rangpur, said crowd and nonchalance towards health directives are behind the high infection rate.