B'desh reports 1st coronavirus death

Dhaka, March 19 (IANS) Bangladesh has reported its first coronavirus death while the number of confirmed cases increased to 14, according to authorities.

The 70-year-old victim was also suffering from a combination of diabetes, hypertension, and kidney and lung ailments, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research said on Wednesday night.

The person was infected with the coronavirus after meeting an overseas returnee and also went through a procedure of heart stenting, reports bdnews24.

The patient had been in intensive care, said Meerjady Sabrina Flora, the Institute's Director.

Of the four new cases reported on Wednesday, three are male and the other female.

The authorities have kept 16 people in isolation who came in close contact of the confirmed cases while 42 others were in institutional quarantine, Flora said.

Meanwhile, people rushed to stock up on groceries in Dhaka on Wednesday amid the outbreak.

More customers crowded the groceries and kitchen markets in the capital's Agargaon, Mirpur and Mohakhali and they were buying more goods than normal.

"The customers who had been buying 10 kg rice at a time previously are going for 20 to 30 kg now. They are buying 2 to 3 kg lentil in place of 1 kg. We trying to ration as the heightened demand has already hit supplies," bdnews24 quoted a store employee as saying.

In South Asia, India and Pakistan have reported coronavirus deaths and cases.