Bangladesh emphasises tests, health rules as no lockdown decision yet: minister

The government has not yet decided on a fresh lockdown, the health minister says, although coronavirus cases are rising rapidly.

“We will let you know when the decision comes from the top level. The health ministry does not take steps on lockdowns,” Zahid Maleque told reports at the Health Services Division on Wednesday.

A reporter asked if the ministry would recommend a lockdown amid the abrupt surge in infections. “We are conducting tests now. We are emphasising health rules and services,” Maleque replied.

“I think infections will decrease if we can control the outbreak where the cases are on the rise. We will think about something else after controlling infections in the places where the infections are coming from,” the minister said.

The health ministry wants restrictions at tourist spots where infections rates are high, according to him. “We’ve already taken steps.”

As the number of coronavirus cases in the country has been on the rise for some time now, the health directorate held an emergency meeting on Mar 16 to explore ways to curtail the spread of the virus.

The officials discussed strengthening the rules of isolation for COVID patients, strict quarantine policy for people coming close to the patients, a minimum 14-day quarantine for the travellers from abroad, and assistance from the armed forces to enforce these rules.

The possibility of a complete lockdown was also considered along with the imposition of restrictions on public gatherings and keeping educational institutions while maintaining 'economic balance'.

Like most other nations, Bangladesh imposed the lockdown measures in March 2020 after COVID-19 infections began surging across the world.

During the lockdown, people were mostly housebound with offices, courts, educational institutions, factories, markets, shops, places of worship, flights, trains and public transport system shut down.

The government allowed the public transport system to resume operation and offices to reopen after the 66-day lockdown. Other activities also became almost normal gradually.

During the restart of the economy, the authorities had planned to impose lockdowns on particular areas where the number of coronavirus cases were on the rise, but did not go ahead with the plan.

After relatively lower positive reports in daily counts since December, the rate of infection has been rising since early March.

On Tuesday, the government confirmed 3,554 new virus cases, the highest daily count in more than eight months. Several media outlets have reported pressure on COVID units at the hospitals due to the rising number of patients.

Minister Maleque said the government asked hospitals in Dhaka and surrounding districts to expand COVID units.

“The government is sincere to prevent infection and treat the patients. But people must be more aware to control the epicentres,” he said, warning that the healthcare system will become insufficient if the infections continue to rise at the current rate.

“People must follow the health rules to save the country and its economy. They must limit hanging out.”