Social distancing is ignored by most of the people across the country, aggravating the ongoing the Covid-19 crisis.
Apart from the capital city Dhaka, most people are travelling, roaming, gossiping and gathering at crowded spots such as bus or launch terminals, kitchen markets, tea stalls in other metropolitan cities, district towns, and upazila head quarters.
Experts said, "People in rural areas of the country are hardly maintaining social distancing."
This practice may increase the risk of coronavirus infection, they feared.
The country’s rural areas' condition is very grave as the people living there are moving here and there desperately. They do not pay heed to social distancing although the country is facing a crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic.
When this correspondent visited Mankiganj, Faridpur, Rajbari, Magura, Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Jashore and many other villages in last 10 days found almost the same scenario everywhere.
Experts say that contact tracing and quarantine did not work properly in Bangladesh. The contact tracing and quarantine system at Tolarbagh in the capital or at Shivchar in Madaripur distrcit was accurate and successful.
We needed to learn from that successful examples. The virus can create a dangerous situation if we fail to prevent infection by ensuring social distancing.
Additional Director General (Administration) of the DGHS Professor Nasima Sultana has urged everyone to maintain physical distancing and abide by hygiene rules to avoid the risk of corona infection.
On June 12, this reporter left Dhaka for Chuadanga in a microbus. In Dhaka, there is a tendency to follow some hygiene rules, but it is not followed properly in other areas. There were crowds of people in various shops on the sides of the road, among whom there was no physical distance as per the rules. Most people did not have a mask on their face.
Even if one or two people have a mask on their face, there is a lot of doubt about how effective it is in preventing virus. On the ferry at Daulatdia-Paturia Ghat, people were seen standing in a huddle. Physical distancing was not maintained even at the ticket counter.
After arriving Chuadanga, this reporter went to the mosque of Harokandi village for Jumma prayers and saw that no one had ‘Jainamaz’. Countless people had masks on their face. But while standing in the prayers, everyone stood very close to each other. But in that village there was still one patient suffering from coronavirus.
People were seen chatting at tea stalls. There was no tendency to wash hands among the people. Later, however, two more were infected with coronavirus in the village. Then they started following some hygiene rules in mosques and other places.
Local union parishad member Aziz Ahmed Sujan said, "We have repeatedly told people to be careful but people are not paying attention to the matter. Most people are not serious about the deadly virus.”
Several villages and markets in the district have been visited and there is no maintain of hygiene.
Although there was some supervision by the administration in the city, it was not seen in the villages or markets. People were crowded in vans, easy bikes (Auto Rickshaw) and other vehicles.
Bulbul Ahmed, who came to the village house from Dhaka, said, "I used to try to follow the hygiene rules in Dhaka. But nothing is happening in the village. I am moving freely like others as people hardly follow the hygiene standards here. There is no fear in my mind about the corona virus. Though, the consequences will not be good."
Talking to locals, it is learned that the lockdown is not being implemented properly here. If someone is infected, only that family is being kept in isolation. But there is no restriction for other people in the neighborhood.
Besides, the villagers are having a lot of troubles with the sample test. If someone wants to test sample, he or she has to go 8-10 kilometers. In this case, no vehicle wants to take villagers with coronavirus symptoms.
There is no separate vehicle for them. As a result, the sick person has to travel long distances on foot or by bicycle. The family is not in isolation until the report comes after the samples are tested again. As a result, if someone is infected, there is a high risk that the person will spread the virus to others.
Mamun Hossain, a resident of Chuadanga, said most of the people in the village are day labor. If they don't work one day, their family will have to starve. Therefore, before lockdown any house or area, it is necessary to arrange food for the poor people there. If this is not ensured, it is not possible for them to be in isolation.
For example, he said, a day laborer returning to his village from Dhaka was infected with the coronavirus, but he worked in the crop fields and roamed many places of the village. There was no way he could be kept in isolation. It is not always possible to keep a guard in his house. After the UNO came and gave him some food, it was possible to keep him in isolation.
Last Friday, the reporter left Chuadanga in a private car for Jashore. On the way, he visited different areas of Jhenaidah and Jashore districts and experienced the same scenerio of social distancing. However, considering the coronavirus transmission, Jashore and Chuadanga districts have been termed as red zones.
Professor Nazrul Islam, former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and a member of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, told Bangladesh Post “Law enforcers patrolled the main road. But they did not enter in others areas. Many poor people have not eaten.
We could not feed them. If we had gone to war then we would not be here today. We have made many mistakes from the beginning. It is a big mistake to let people go home during the last Eid. The virus has spread across the country. But if we do the right work properly, then there is still the opportunity to control the virus”.
"We had many opportunities. But it's too late to take proper action. Some of these steps were also wrong. For example, the quarantine system in Ashkona for expatriates was cancelled and sent them to home quarantine, which was a big mistake. On the other hand, the garment workers came to Dhaka, it was also not a good decesion. It increased risk of infection,” he added.
Expressing frustration over the awareness of the citizens, the expert said, "The government is campaigning so much urging all to stay at home and those who have symptoms to stay in isolation. But people are not listening to that."