Our country is facing humanitarian disasters for centuries. Our country is fighting a long standing battle against climate change and natural disasters. We are sitting at the bottom of Himalayan as world’s largest delta. Now currently we are holding world’s largest refugee camp at our southern border. In 49 years of history of existence we have shown a tremendous amount of resilience in facing off natural disasters. We also withstand man made disasters like 2008 global financial crisis. However the COVID-19 pandemic is completely different type of disaster. It started from Wuhan a city of china in December 2019 and now it spread to 213 countries with totality of 7,597,662 confirmed cases and a death toll of 432,846 up until now (June 12, 2020, 05:33 GMT –Worldmeter.info). Our country is not an exception. The first case of COVID-19 was detected on 8 March and now it has 78,052 confirmed cases and 1,049 deaths. Our country took swift measures after the first case of COVID-19. On 14 March an-arrival visas were suspended and flights from all European countries were suspended. Government also closed all education institutes after the holiday of 17 March also declared a ten day holiday from 26 March to 4 April which was extended to 14 April. Also the government asked the army to force social distancing.
Our country is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Most of the people in our country are middle class and lower middle class people also many of us are illiterate. Many people in our country depend on their daily income for their daily food. As a result despite beings measures taken from the start our country is among top 20 countries that is affected by COVID-19 .We failed to control the spreading of the virus, not only that there was a huge number of reports of corruption in the relief found given by the government. We failed to social distancing, also failed to success lockdown. Many people ignored the 14 day quarantine system as a result our country now facing a great threat. Our country is also lacking on the resources to take proper measures.
We have inadequate number of testing facilities also we the conducting a very little number of tests per day. Over 600 doctors got affected by COVID-19, also 11% of COVID-19 case is among the medical workers (aa.com.tr- 1 may, 2020). Our country Doctors Foundation (BDF) blamed the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for this crisis. PPE is like armor for the front line workers and the lack of is a major crisis for Our country. Another problem the health care workers in Our country are facing is that patients are concealing their medical symptoms and related information to avoid stigma, social isolation or quarantine. Many people believe that if they get infected, their houses will be locked down and their family members will be treated negatively. As in fact many COVID-19 patients’ families in villages treated negatively, among them there are medical workers too. The saddest fact is that many hospitals are not admitting patients with symptoms related to COVID-19. Many normal patients are not getting treatments in hospital who have a COVID-19 related symptoms. Also the number of tests the government conducting is very insufficient. Now Our country is conducting 17 thousand tests per day which is very sufficient comparing to our population.
A total of 7% of our country’s population is senior citizens. Most of these senior citizens and many mid-aged people in the country have non-communicable disorders, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (11.9%), cardiac disorders (4.5%), diabetes (9.7%), and asthma (5.2%), and they are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Besides, there are around 1.3 to 1.5 million cancer patients in the country. Moreover, the prevalence of smoking is highest in our country among the South Asian countries. Studies have reported that people who smoke and have cancer have a higher risk of developing serious complications. Although there is still a dearth of understanding of the association between COVID-19 severity and cancer and smoking, these could likely be correlated (Cai H. Sex differences and smoking predisposition in patients with COVID-19).
Peoples in lower classes are facing much more trouble. They don’t have enough foods or money to support them. Their earning stopped because of the lockdown. Also the government doesn’t have enough supply to support this huge population through the entire lockdown. They are saying Corona may not kill us but the hunger will. So the only option is left for them is to go out and work. They government is also taking off lockdown because of this economical crisis. So the COVID-19 condition for every our country is turned into a luck game. They have to choose between Corona and hunger. Already all garment factories reopened from 26th of April. Despite Our country Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)’s direct order not to ask workers (who are back in their village) to return Dhaka, hundreds of garment factory workers left their villages on foot or jammed into whatever vehicle they can find to join work in Dhaka and to its outskirts, thereby ignoring all risks.
It is not easy for any country’s people to support lockdown while starving. We must face this crisis but also we must develop ways to solve our economic problem too. The situation is also getting very bad, and comparable with many other countries like France, Japan, which have lately seen devastating impact of the virus. As we know a total lockdown is not possible, but the government may lockdown for most severely affected places. With the help of armed forces or the national army the government may think about starting a ‘hygienic’ rationing system for the respected regions. This is the best mitigation measure government may have.
As for preventive measures for COVID-19, we should immediately start aggressive tracing of cases and contacts, strict quarantine, and screening, as well as education to promote good hand hygiene practices. The most important thing we immediate need is expansion of testing labs to every district and major localities is urgently needed to test every patient with symptoms, and millions of testing kits are necessary for conducting aggressive detection of cases. Students at life science departments in universities can be trained to carry out COVID-19 case diagnosis. The molecular genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology labs in the universities and medical colleges across the country should be quickly transformed into COVID-19 case detection labs. We can also seek help from other countries like China and South Korea on how we can success extensive detection surveys. With help from the armed forces and trained volunteers, the schools could be turned into quarantine centres. The Government must supply enough protective gear for the healthcare workers who will have to tackle COVID-19 patients in the front line. With expert help from China and South Korea, our country should immediately organise specialised training for all physicians, resident doctors, and intern doctors.
In the case of an upsurge of people who belong to the vulnerable groups contracting COVID-19, they may require hospitalisation and intensive care. Hence, ventilation supports in every hospital, clinic, and medical centre is a must. The tech start-up and innovation companies emerging in the country should take it as a challenge to design a cheap but rapidly deplorable mechanical ventilator device. All non-essential surgeries and hospital admissions should be cancelled immediately to make sure the hospitals are not unnecessarily occupied. Hospitals can become a source of COVID-19 transmission, and it is advisable to decentralise healthcare services and, whenever possible, to provide care at home.
Fear and anxiety about the pandemic are causing a huge stress for everyone. Anxiety can reduce a person’s immunity power. False news and mixed news can pile up stress, understanding the actual risk can reduce stress. Social activists, government, religious leaders, social workers and political leaders should come forward to help people to understand the actual threat and help them scientifically understand COVID-19. For instant a Imam can perform a vital role in releasing peoples stress.
Above all, our country must source a decent amount of emergency fund to help workers, employers, parents, marginal people, and hosted refugees. Our country already received support of USD 100 million from the World Bank for Corona support. But we need more money, it’s not enough. We must stop all non-essential development works and gather modest amount money. We should requests top business organisations and international founders to come forward and help our country to fight COVID-19.
Preparedness is the key to addressing disaster, but we had limitations. Every day the virus is getting worse. Every day we people dying. Their number will increase with time. By far we failed to contain the crisis. For this situation we have our faults too also our economical conditions. But there is still time to act. The fight against COVID-19 cannot be carried by the government alone. It will take unprecedented coordination between the public and private at local level and international level. Our government must take step against relief corruption. Our government should increase the tests per day also the PPE supply. We general public students must stay strong and work as a team to fight against COVID-19. This is a war that we must fight by staying way from each other physically but also by helping others and the government.
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Nailed it bruhh