Old man with coronavirus symptoms left at a char on Jamuna river, rescued after two days.

NEWS DESK

An unidentified elderly sick man aged around 65 was left at a char on the Jamuna river in Pabna's Bera upazila for two days. He was unfed and untreated until a team led by an upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) along with medical staff rescued him yesterday evening.

The old man is undergoing treatment at an isolation unit of Bera Upazila Health Complex and exhibit coronavirus-like symptoms, doctors of the hospital said.

He is suffering from fever and cough and other Covid-19-like symptoms, Dr. Sardar Milon Mahamud, medical officer of the health complex, told The Daily Star. 

The man is weak from starvation, the doctor said.

"We collected his samples yesterday night and sent them to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for Covid-19 test," Dr. Sardar Milon said.

"Locals informed me that an old man was left at Char Safulla in Bera upazila for the last two days," said Asif Anam Siddiquee, the UNO who led the rescue team.

"We reached the char land in the evening and found the sick old man lying on the ground, helpless. Nobody had come close to him fearing the coronavirus," he added.

The victim was too sick to speak and could not confirm his identity right away, the UNO said.

Nobody on the char could confirm the identity of the person either, Asif said.  

"Talking with the locals, we came to know that the man was left on the char by a passenger boat, probably from Nagarbari area on Saturday evening. Locals did not dare to come close to him. He was lying on the shoal without food for two days," the UNO said.

Family members of the victim might have left him there as a result of his illness, he speculated.