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this newspaper.

Zafrullah’s lungs have been affected, which can be called an earlier stage of pneumonia, Tanvir said, adding that his chest X-ray reports were also not good.

“He requested everyone to pray for him,” he said.

Zafrullah tested positive for Covid-19 on May 25. Plasma therapy was also administered on him and he had no major complications since he tested positive.

Gonoshasthaya Kendra in a Facebook post said it was seeking blessings from all for the recovery of Dr Zafrullah.

“We hope he will recover soon and start working again to build a Bangladesh he dreams of,” it said.

Zafrullah made significant contributions to the country’s health sector since the Liberation War in 1971. He was behind Bangladesh’s drug policy that helped flourish its pharmaceutical industry.

The physician, also a freedom fighter, has been demanding fast approval of Gonoshasthaya Kendra-developed rapid test kit for Covid-19.

Testing with this kit would be cheaper and it would enable the authorities to go for large-scale testing and isolation measures, said Gonoshasthaya Kendra.