The government has done away with most restrictions that have been imposed intermittently to rein in the virus and the remaining ones are set to go from August 19 next. The decision to open up everything has surprised many since the number of daily Covid infections and fatality is still very high. The reality is that the government has given in to the mounting pressure from various groups engaged in economic activities to resume operations.
Whether the government is right in its approach is a debatable issue. Health experts, who prefer life to livelihood, are opposed to the resumption of all activities when the delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 has destabilized almost everything. Many others feel that a country like Bangladesh can hardly bypass livelihood issues for long since the vulnerable groups have suffered most because of the pandemic.
The lack of awareness among the vast majority of the population about the adherence to the safety protocol, recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is largely blamed for the strong resurgence of Covid infection since March last. Using a facemask remains the key to keeping the disease at bay, but most people find it uncomfortable and avoid it.
The government is also blamed for not doing enough to make the people aware of the importance of safety protocol. The official awareness campaign has remained confined mostly to main urban centres. The neglect, thus, has lately taken a heavy toll in districts where a section of people has a wrong impression that Covid is a disease that mainly affects the rich and the urban people.
The latest two-week-long hard restrictions have produced some dividends. Both death and infection have been showing a downtrend during the past few days. But the trend might take a reverse turn if the people fail to follow the health protocols rigorously. Such a possibility cannot be ruled out because of the decision to open up recreational centres, tourist spots and indoor and outdoor assemblies from August 19 next.
The unrestrained operation of public transports and shopping centres and markets would make things rather challenging for the country's health authorities. Indoor and outdoor political programmes are already on. The wayside markets in Dhaka city are overflowing with people. All these are considered super-spreaders of a highly contagious disease like Covid.
The adherence to health protocols needs to be aggressively supported by vaccination programme to help the country return to 'new normal'. The health authorities had started well as far as vaccination was concerned. But the programme suffered a jolt following the suspension of vaccine supply by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The government has managed some more vaccines from China and Covax facility, but hiccups of various nature have surfaced in the matters of jabbing. The mass- vaccination drive carried out last week is a case in point; a large number of people returned home frustrated as there were not enough vaccines at the designated centres.
The enthusiasm witnessed among the mass people to take a vaccine is a positive sign. The government needs to cash in on that and ensure the availability of vaccines. The vaccine coverage is still low, and it needs to be raised, at least, to 70 per cent to ensure so-called herd immunity among the population. Until that magic figure is achieved, the situation will remain fluid.