Bangladesh has been seeing a sharp spike in Covid-19 deaths and infections for the last few months, not only in Dhaka but also in the border districts and rural areas.
Daily death toll has exceeded 200 marks for the first time in the country this month. Experts are blaming ignorance and lack of awareness among people for this alarming rise in infections.
Professor Tahmina Shirin, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) told Bangladesh Post that people in the rural areas rarely use face masks and follow health safety guidelines.
She also observed that lack of control on the movement of people during the last two Eid festivals has aggravated the infection situation by the local transmission of the Delta variant in border districts.
Many experts said that people have to be aware and follow health guidelines above all to continue their regular life amid the pandemic.
Professor Dr Shakeel Ahmed, head of Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) laboratory told Bangladesh Post, “Rural areas are not densely populated and infections were not that high in these areas even a few months ago. The reckless movement of people during Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha has contributed to the surge in infection rates in rural areas.”
When asked if stricter lockdown is needed in rural areas as people are less aware there, he said that lockdown is not a permanent solution and emphasized on following health guidelines.
He said that the spread of the virus can be contained to a large extent by wearing face masks, maintaining social distance, washing hands frequently, and avoiding unnecessary movements in crowded areas.
“The hospitals in upazilas are now well equipped and the doctors have also gained a lot of experience in treating the patients of coronavirus,” he added.
Professor Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, President of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 echoed the same recommendations and told Bangladesh Post that only lockdown cannot provide solution to the increasing cases of coronavirus.
“People in rural areas think that coronavirus cannot affect them. Their apathy towards maintaining hygiene rules and the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 is responsible for the rapid surge of coronavirus in rural communities,” he said.
Although lockdown cannot be considered to be the only way to reducing the infection and death rate, some experts have questioned the effectiveness of the lockdown that has been enforced so far in our country.
Professor Muzaherul Huq, a former adviser to WHO South-East Asia region told Bangladesh Post that proper lockdown was never enforced in our country and that’s why the expected results could not be achieved.
He said that during lockdown, only emergency services should remain open including pharmacies, hospitals, and grocery stores from where people can buy food at a specific time. Kitchen markets should be moved to streets during lockdown to provide enough space for people’s movement.
“Contact tracing, ensuring quarantine, and conducting rapid antigen test are the main tasks that should be ensured during lockdown. These things were not done appropriately during any of the lockdowns that have been enforced so far since last year. The purpose of lockdown is to control the spread of the virus through identification followed by quarantine,” he added.