Coronavirus toll will worsen if people don’t stay home: health minister

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has expressed concern that people are leaving their homes and crowding public spaces despite the continued rise of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh.

The number of cases will continue to surge unless crowding can be limited, he said while inaugurating a temporary COVID-19 hospital at the Bashundhara International Convention Centre in Dhaka on Sunday.

“We see many people crowding into transportation, such as rickshaws and auto-rickshaws. They’re gathering in front of stores and factories, on the ferries.”

“We are concerned about this. If it continues, the rate of infection will only grow. As you can see, the transmission has increased somewhat recently. If we don’t limit the amount of time spent outside the home, it will only spread faster.”

The construction of the temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients began on Apr 12. The health minister inaugurated it on Sunday after construction work was completed.

The hospital has a total of 2,013 beds, making it the largest isolation centre in the country, with 400 beds having equipment for administering oxygen to patients.

The health minister thanked Bashundhara Group for supporting the government’s efforts to treat Covid-19 patients.

The ‘sudden’ appearance of the disease has posed challenges for both developed and developing countries, he said.

“China is a great power, but they were thrown into chaos. Even now they don’t have the situation completely under control. Europe and the US are struggling to stop the spread of the disease. Everyone has been affected. We are in the same situation. We tried to control the spread from the start.”

The outbreak of the coronavirus around the world led the Bangladesh government, like many others, to initiate a lockdown on Mar 26.

The lockdown was extended, in several stages, to May 16, but some measures have recently been relaxed.

Factories are able to restart operations and stores allowed to open before the Eid rush as long as they follow health and safety guidelines. Mosques have also been permitted to hold prayer services outside.

Though the government ordered ‘vacation’ has yet to end, the streets are growing steadily more crowded. Many have expressed concern that this may lead to a surge in coronavirus cases and criticised the government’s decision to reopen markets and factories.

Last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that there was no choice but to relax lockdown restrictions, despite the risk from the virus.

“Life cannot be at a complete standstill for long,” she said.

The tally of coronavirus infections in Bangladesh has soared to 22,268 after 1,273 COVID-19 cases were detected in a daily count, the steepest daily spike, according to government data. Another 14 fatalities were registered in the 24 hours to 8 am Sunday, bringing the death toll from the disease to 328.

The health minister said that 3,000 beds were available at 14 hospitals in Dhaka for those suffering from the disease.

In addition, a total of 7,000 beds were available at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Hospital and at the various temporary isolation hospitals set up by the city corporations in the capital.

So far 40 labs have been established to test for the virus and 15 more are being readied and will hopefully expand the government’s testing capacity.