by Krishna Kumar Saha 22 April 2020
In December 2019, the COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, and millions of people were tested positive, and thousands and thousands of people have died. However, hundreds and thousands of people have recovered from this virus too. So, fare 184 countries/regions reported evidence of COVID-19. As of 2 April, 15 states have not informed the spread or evidence of this virus. Most of the South Asian countries are under lockdown, and they are yet to report the severe effects of COVID-19. Bangladesh is one of the South Asian countries recently graduated into a middle-income country club now have started to experience the devastating impact of COVID-19.
Since independence, Bangladesh has made significant development in the health sector. Along with the public sector, private sectors are involved in the proliferation of health infrastructure. Visibly there are medical universities in every division; colleges in almost every district, five-star hospitals, public and private hospitals, community clinics, and even some NGOs are contributing to this sector. Along with Sustainable Development Goals, Bangladesh is trying to achieve Universal Health Coverage for its citizens.
On 08 March 2020, Bangladesh reported three positive cases of COVID-19 for the first time. Just three days later (11 March 2020) World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus as a global pandemic. The government had to cancel the big budgeted 100th birthday celebration for the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was scheduled for 17 March 2020. Under pressure from guardians and the general public concerning the safety of the children, the government was forced to close all the educational instructions on 16 March 2020. The first death reported caused by this virus was on 18 March 2020. And on 23 March, Bangladesh government declared the nation-wide lockdown from 26 March-04 April 2020, and again government prolonged it till 11 April 2020. Might be extended again.
More than two hundred thousand people returned from abroad during this time. After the declaration of the general holiday and lockdown, people started to leave the capital, and around 20 million people left Dhaka for their safety. Which even caused more safety concern due to the massive pressure on public transports. All these people left mostly on public transport caused more health concern due to over-crowded public transportation. However, some stayed at their workstations because it is an unequal country, and many of the poor depend on the informal work for their livelihood, and if they don’t work, they don’t get paid. For this reason, many low earning people going outside on the streets to earn their livelihood in this adverse situation.
Besides, Bangladesh is home to 1.2 million Rohingya Refugees, and they are living in the camps in Teknaf under Cox’s Bazar district in the South-East of Bangladesh. In those camps, the huts are so congested that the air can’t even flow properly. Besides, they don’t have proper sanitation facilities in the camps, and after evening the Bangladeshi security forces leave the camps to leave them unsafe to many dangers.
At the beginning of the lockdown in Bangladesh, people were not very conscious and aware of how to do that, and people were traveling during this lockdown situation and not maintaining the social distance to stop the spreading of COVID-19. This is why the Bangladesh government was forced to deploy the army to assist the local administration. Until now, the situation is still manageable; however, when the number of patients will increase geometrically, then it will be out of control for the government. This is why the lockdown should be managed strictly by the government, and citizens should abide by the rules for everyone’s safety from COVID-19.
So far, Bangladesh has reported 70 infections, 30 recoveries, and eight deaths. Before the testing facilities were centralized, now the government has decentralized the testing kits. After increasing the volume of tests and now the number of cases is also growing. The government is trying har to collaborate with the South Asian countries to combat the spread and the aftereffects of the virus. We hope the governments of this region will be able to handle the Coronavirus properly; otherwise, these countries will face challenging times, especially the booming economy.
In Bangladesh, until now, the government has extended the timeline of the lockdown three times and with many confusions. The number of infections with COVID-19 is increasing rapidly, and so are the number of deaths. The responsible people from the government are complaining about the coordination mismatch and lack of proper decisions. In addition, relief distribution has become another way of infection due to over-crowded expectations. Urging the population of Bangladesh, the Prime Minister has issued directives, but people are unlikely to follow. Now the government is in a dilemma of longer lockdown and the economic disaster.
(We acknowledge different sources with gratitude)