What is the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh? Statistics dished out by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) show that there has been no let-up either in the rate of infection or in the number of deaths. The overall rate of infection is nearly 21 per cent and the number of daily death ranges between 30 and 45.
Yet the health ministry honchos have a different story to tell. They are on record saying that the intensity of novel coronavirus infection has decreased across the country in recent days. The health minister even has gone a step ahead. He said the country may not need a vaccine to stave off the deadly pathogen. His statement came as a surprise to many.
One has reasons to believe that the government has decided to leave the issue of Covid-19 to the natural process. It has already stopped daily media briefing on different aspects of Covid. A decision has also been taken to reduce the number of Covid-dedicated hospitals. What will be the fate of the booths collecting samples at different points of the city is also not clear.
As the government has withdrawn restrictions on the operations of almost all sectors, it is quite clear that it is dead serious about restoring normalcy in all sectors of the economy. The functioning of the educational institutions is one area where the government is unwilling to make any hasty decision, it seems.
It is hardly debatable that the health authorities since the outbreak of the pandemic have demonstrated a high degree of inefficiency and incompetence. They have been slow in taking the steps to combat the disease right from the beginning. Moreover, scam after scam rocked the sector during the past five months.
Meanwhile, with the government attaching priority to the issue of livelihoods, a large section of people are seen giving a damn to health safety issues as far as tackling the Covid is concerned. They have stopped wearing masks--- the number one safety requirement against Covid infection. They may also be equally not serious about washing hands with soaps. Overall there prevails a relaxed attitude towards the disease.
But the fact remains that even the most experienced and globally renowned health experts and virologists are not sure about the behaviour of the virus that has so far claimed nearly 0.8 million lives and infected more than 22 million people across the world.
Until an effective vaccine is found, no country can rid itself of the worries about the second or third wave of the disease. Some countries have been successful in bringing the number of infections to zero by extensive testing, contact-tracing and isolation, but as they tried to resume normal activities, fully or partially, infections resurfaced.
Covid tests in Bangladesh have been at a very low level. The government has not clearly explained the reasons for conducting a fewer number of tests. Though the number of labs, both private and public, gradually increased, the number of tests did never reach the 20,000 mark. Rather, levying of fees on Covid tests at government hospitals and facilities and unusual delay in getting tests results have resulted in a further decline in the number of tests. It even came down below 10,000 some days back. Now the government has realised the folly. It has reduced the fees to half to encourage the people to come for tests. Many tend to believe that the fixation of fees was not necessary at all.
Since the government is unlikely to go for shutdown or any other harsh measures, it should, at least, strengthen the campaign to motivate people about the safeguard measures against Covid. The government has made the wearing of masks mandatory. Breach of anything mandatory is a punishable offence. The government has so far taken a soft approach to tackle the pandemic. It needs to be a bit harsh on the issue of mask wearing.
