The government after announcing the extension of general holidays also made it clear that some of the export based industry would be allowed to open during the time while public transport will also be allowed in phases.
The fresh announcement came, almost one month after the general holiday was imposed by the government in the country.
The authorities gave the condition to ensure health and safety of the workers before opening the factories.
Epidemiologists and public health experts raised questions if it was the right time to return to economical activities; they however said that the authorities need to ensure three Ts – tracing, testing, and treatment – facilities before lifting the lockdown.
The country has already missed its opportunity to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country despite enforcing lockdown in several parts of the country which is also impacting the economy, according to experts.
The current coronavirus scenario
According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), till now 4,186 confirmed cases were reported while some 127 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 took place in the country.
About 108 infected Covid-19 patients had recovered, which is 2.58% of the total infected. While the death percentage is 3% of the total infected.
Covid-19 has already been traced in 59 out of the 64 districts of the country among which 41 came under complete lockdown while 16 came under partial lockdown.
Data provided by the IEDCR showed that till 8pm, April 23, more than 85% of the infected cases were in Dhaka division and of them, 46.8% were in the capital alone.
The second is Narayanganj having 532 cases while Gazipur having 292 confirmed cases till date.
Among other divisions, 4.15% cases were detected in Chittagong, 3.87% in Mymensingh, 2.06% in Barisal, 1.75% in Rangpur, 1.03% in Khulna, 0.92% in Sylhet and in Rajshahi 0.86% coronavirus cases were reported.
The worrying part is that contact tracing still remains an unfinished job for the authorities. The isolation and quarantine method are also in question.
In this circumstance, the country may lead towards disaster.
Is it too early to take any decision?
Experts have raised questions regarding how lifting the lockdown may affect the overall situation in the country.
Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) Secretary General Ehteshamul Huq Chowdhury said there are two types of lockdown approach identified by John Hopkins University researchers – mitigation and suppression.
One approach is enforcing 49 days of complete lockdown and another one is 21 days lockdown followed by five days pause, then again 18 days of lockdown followed by 5 days of pause and then again 18 days of lockdown and finally lifting it fully.
The first one is called suppression which China and South Korea has apparently been successful in using. However, the USA and Spain tried to use the mitigation process which already failed, the BMA secretary general added.
“It does not mean or force us to take any of the two because our economy is not the same as theirs. So we should have a different approach like the one Turkey is trying to do,” he also said.
Public health expert Dr Rashid E Mahbub also supported Dr. Ehteshamul’s comments.
“We have to find a different way, taking advice from public health experts could help,” he added.
Former BSMMU VC, Professor Nazrul Islam said: “Although more than one and a half months have passed after the first detection of coronavirus, we are yet to ascertain the spread graph of the virus.
“As we are yet to ascertain it, it is logical to raise questions whether opening the economy is a timely move and would not worsen the situation,” he added.
Trace, test, treatment keys to ease lockdown
Rashid, also the former BMA president said in the emerging situation there is no alternative to testing. The country needs to test more, he said.
Echoing Professor Rashid, Prof Nazrul said: “Although the number of testing has increased in recent times, it is not adequate at all. It needs to increase a lot. That will show us the real scenario.”
The country is conducting contact tracing right now. Mopping-up (to whom infected people are spreading the virus) should be done as well, he added.
Besides, there is no medicine proven to be useful for the treatment of Covid 19, he said.
Public health expert, Professor Dr Benazir Ahmed said: “We need to follow three Ts – tracing, testing and treatment – strictly to overcome the issue.”
He said from the very beginning the government should have formed an expert panel with public health experts as any epidemic is subjected to public health.
However, the government could still take a public welfare approach revising its methods, he said.
As the lockdown would be released soon, the entry of visitors in the country would increase. So the screening would be stricter and it would not be limited to measuring the temperature only. We need to do a virus infection test for all the entrances, the professor added.
As the number of infected people went high, contact tracing with a huge team is not possible for the country. But a core team for every case could be formed and the country would deploy them to find from where they have been infected and to whom they are spreading the virus.
For opening the industry, the health expert suggested forming a team in each industry to inform all the workers about the possible risks and arrange viral tests for all to identify the risky ones.
For agriculture he said, the farmers who are going to work in the field should be tested and if they are found negative, they would be certified which they have to carry all the time while travelling.
Same thing goes for the transport workers as well. If the people found that the transport workers are corona negative it would provide a positive feeling to the people and also make them aware.
And the most important thing is in every workplace, a regular test should be done in a fixed interval and there should be no compromise with ensuring physical distancing and personal hygiene at the workplaces.
