Dhaka WASA chairman dies of COVID-19

Prof MA Rashid, the chairman of Dhaka WASA, has died in hospital care after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

The 67-year-old passed away during treatment in Dhaka's Bangladesh Specialized Hospital on Thursday.

Rashid, a former mechanical engineering teacher at BUET, was hospitalised nearly one and a half months ago after testing positive for COVID-19, said Taqsem A Khan, the managing director of Dhaka WASA.

He had been put on ventilator support on Jul 16 but was later moved to a cabin after his condition improved on Sept 1, according to Taqsem.

Although Rashid's final test for the virus came back negative, his health began to deteriorate on Sept 3.

"He was once again moved to intensive care. He had been in a precarious state for the last three or four days. Doctors said some of his organs failed due to the effects of COVID-19," said Taqsem.

Rashid was a teacher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at BUET from 1985 to 2018. He was appointed chairman of the WASA board in September 2019.