Although the coronavirus infection rate has apparently made a marked fall in Bangladesh in recent weeks, health experts voiced concern that the virus still remains lethal in terms of fatality since the death rate has been showing an uptrend, reports UNB.
Unlike many other countries, they said, Bangladesh has been witnessing a paradox of the coronavirus pandemic since the death rates remain higher amid lower infections.
The experts attributed the growing corona death rate to mainly the 'nonchalant' attitude of the health ministry towards dealing with the situation, people's desperateness about the disease, their lack of 'confidence' in public health services, late arrival to hospitals and wrong treatment and abuse of medicines.
As of August 31, Bangladesh registered 312,996 corona cases and 4,281 deaths. In comparison with the total tests conducted in the country, the infection rate is 20.19 percent. Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 65.46 percent while the mortality rate is 1.37 percent.
On July 31, the confirmed coronavirus cases in Bangladesh was 237,661 with 21.98 per cent infection rate while the death toll was 3,111 with 1.31 per cent mortality rate. That means 1,170 people died only in August and the fatality rate increased by 0.06 per cent while the infection decreased by 1.79 per cent over the same period.
Contacted, Prof Nazrul Islam, a member of the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19, said it seems coronavirus infection is slowing down to some extent, but the fatality rate is on the rise.
He said elderly people and those who have comorbidities are mainly losing battle against the virus. "It's difficult to say the exact reason behind the growing trend of mortality since we're not getting enough information from the authorities concerned. The government stopped briefing on the corona situation abruptly without any reason which is interrupting the flow of information. It's a blunder...it has sent out a wrong message."
The expert said people now are not taking the disease seriously and showing less interest in going to hospitals. "Many corona-infected people are staying home and taking treatment there as they lack trust in hospitals. It's one of the reasons behind the rise in the fatality rate."
Besides, Nazrul said, he thinks now people are not getting proper treatment at hospitals as government authorities are not serious about ensuring necessary equipment and other things, including high-flow nasal cannula, ICU facilities and sufficient oxygen. "Overall, I think, a lethargic attitude of the government and people towards the deadly virus is contributing to the rise in the mortality rate."
Prof Kanak Kanti Barua, Vice-Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), said no one should say the corona infection has decreased based on daily sample tests of 10,000-12,000. "But we can say the death rate has increased as nearly 40 people on average have been dying every day for a few weeks."
He said people's apathy to the treatment at the hospitals and late admission may be the main reasons behind the rise in the fatality rate. "We're observing that many people are coming to hospitals at the last stage or with serious lung infections. So, it becomes difficult for us to save such patients."
The BSMMU VC said a good number of those patients dying from the corona infection have diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney, cancer, cardiac, respiratory and other underlying health problems. "People having comorbidities shouldn't take much time to come to hospitals after they are tested positive for the virus. But they're taking admission when their condition deteriorates sharply. Even, many corona patients are coming to hospitals with serious lung infections only because of not taking proper treatment at the early stage."