Protection of staff and families during COVID-19 pandemic: experience from a research institute in Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), which contains the world's largest diarrheal disease hospital, established a service centre, including testing facilities, isolation unit, out-patient department, in-patient ward, and intensive care unit during COVID-19 pandemic. When the management of COVID-19 was challenging nationwide, icddr,b established this facility with the goal to provide COVID-related services to the staff and their relatives amidst the pandemic. Data related to this analysis were collected from April 2020 to December 2021. 1399 patients received treatment under this facility. Among them, 351 patients were treated at the out-patient facility, 98 at the isolation, and 197 at the in-patient ward. Among the admitted patients, survival was 86.29% (n = 170/197). Among the suspected patients, 17% (n = 103/606) were COVID-positive. Setting up an immediate COVID-19 management facility during the pandemic was challenging. It can be an example of how an organisation can adapt to any emergency and act accordingly.