10 Covid-19 patients who fled Jashore hospital being brought back

The ten Covid-19 patients, who fled Jashore General Hospital on Friday and Saturday, are being brought back by law enforcers and officials from the local administration.

They were on their way back till filing of this report at around 8:00pm today.

Of the ten, seven came from India and the rest were admitted to the hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

The hospital's superintendent Dilip Kumar Roy said the hospital authorities contacted deputy commissioners (DC), superintendent of police and civil surgeons of respective districts to trace the patients so that they are brought back to the hospital.

Following that, law enforcers and civil administration raided different areas and found the patients.

"Now, we are bringing them back to the hospital. They are on their way," said Touhidul Islam, additional superintendent of police in Jashore.

The India returnees are Monimala (49) of Jashore town; Milon Hossain (32) of Protappara area in Satkhira's Ashasuni upazila; Shefali Rani (40) of Satkhira's Kaliganj upazila; Nsaima Akhter (50) of Rajbari's Ramkantopur area; Amirul Sana (52) of Khulna's Paikgacha upazila, Bibekananda (52) of Khulna's Sadar upazila and Sohel Sarder (17) of Khulna's Rupsha upazila.

The rest are Prodip Biswas (37) Fatema Begum (19) and her sister-in-law Roma (30) of Panchbaria village of Jashore Sadar upazila.

The India returnees entered Bangladesh through Benapole border over the last few days. They tested positive while crossing the border.

They were taken to the hospital under police surveillance and admitted there, said Arif Ahmed, resident medical officer (RMO) of the hospital.

But they suddenly fled the hospital. Many of them used fake addresses and mobile phone numbers while being admitted to the hospital, he added.

The correspondent tried to contact patients through the mobile phone numbers they provided in the admission register book.

Of them, two patients used the same mobile phone number which is being used by an auto-rickshaw driver.

When Fatema's husband was contacted over mobile phone, he said Fatema and Roma were not admitted to the hospital. They visited the doctor at the hospital's outdoor and then returned home.