Shawdesh Desk: Saliva of two Bangladeshi students, who recently returned from China, have been sent to the capital on Wednesday for testing to see if they have been affected by coronavirus.

They were admitted to the Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases in Faujdarhat area of Sitakunda upazila with suspected symptoms of the virus on January 26, two days after their return.

Civil Surgeon Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi said the duo admitted themselves at the (BITID) with headache and cold and their saliva samples have been sent to icddr,b for testing.
BITID Director Dr M Hasan said they are yet to find any sign of coronavirus, but their samples were sent to Dhaka for confirmation.

Meanwhile, the new coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization as the outbreak continues to spread outside China.

At least 213 people in China have died, mostly in Hubei, with almost 10,000 confirmed cases nationally.

The WHO said there had been 98 cases in 18 other countries, but no deaths.

Most international cases are in people who had been to Wuhan in Hubei.