Bangladesh has been in and out of lockdowns for varying periods till late August this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, since the relaxation of lockdown measures, including the reopening of schools, colleges, universities, non-essential shops and malls, etc people have stopped following health guidelines.
World Health Organization has outlined many guidelines for nations seeking to lift lockdown which includes maintaining basic safety measures.
However, most of these safety measures are barely followed.
Social distance is the first and most important safeguard -- when outside the house, keeping a space of two meters (six feet) between oneself and others.
However, in Bangladesh, this approach confronts obstacles.
The ability of those who are asymptomatic or have mild to moderate symptoms to spread the disease explains why social distancing, along with other precautions like wearing a mask all the time, hand washing, and not touching the face is so important.
Failure to establish and enforce these safety measures has a direct impact on the virus's mortality toll.
More transmission also means more chances of variants of coronavirus appearing that can be devastating.
The Delta variant is up to five times more infectious and fatal.
According to a Canadian study, Delta has 6.1 per cent probability of hospitalisation and a 1.6 per cent chance of ICU admission. Other variants of corona have 5.4 per cent chance of hospitalisation and 1.2 per cent chance of ICU admission.
A common misconception among the people of our country is that we have achieved “herd immunity” and are no longer required to maintain strict safety measures now that the lockdown is lifted.
Bangladesh has fully vaccinated about 15.11 per cent, which is a far cry from the 70-80 per cent that’s often cited as the number needed to reach herd immunity.
However, new Covid-19 virus strains with many mutations are surfacing. As a result, it is still impossible to predict how vaccine-induced antibodies will react to future variations.
It's not very difficult to stay safe. All that is required is the implementation of a few measures on a personal level and basic lifestyle changes. Ignoring the safety measures might bring back COVID-19 into our homes and those we come into contact with. For a huge number of individuals, the outcome will be unimaginable agony.
