The fear of Covid-related deaths and health complications has been creeping inside of every citizen in Bangladesh for the last two years; but Mymensingh has a different story to tell.
When the pandemic hit the country in 2020, the district was ravaged just like the rest of the country. However, recent data shows that Mymensingh is seeing fewer infections and deaths as most people have been vaccinated and adhered to hygiene rules.
According to the district’s health officials, despite the increase in Covid cases in all districts due to the Omicron variant, Mymensingh has reported lower infections, deaths and hospitalizations than any other district.
Civil Surgeon Nazrul Islam said: “At least 53% people of the district have taken the first dose against Covid-19, while 41% received the second dose, and around 52,000 people got the booster shots.”
He added that, by April this year, the district authorities plan to vaccinate 100% of the population.
Meanwhile, about 55% people in the Mymensingh division and 75% living in Mymensingh City Corporation area have been vaccinated against the virus.
City Mayor Ekramul Haque Titu said that around 472,000 people of the city corporation had been vaccinated, which is about 75% of the total population.
The district reported zero deaths in the last week. In the last 24 hours till Monday morning, Mymensingh reported 33 new infections with a test positivity rate of 11.66%.
Auto-rickshaw driver Rafiq Mia said that three members of his family had received both doses of the vaccine, and that none of them contracted the virus.
“The city corporation authorities told us that we will be safer if we get jabbed; so we all agreed to take it.”
Vegetable trader Mujibur Ali said: “I had doubts whether the poor like us can get vaccinated, but the government has made the vaccination process easy for everyone.”
Mymensingh Divisional Health Office Director Dr Md Shah Alam said that the vaccination programs carried out by the health authorities and the adherence to hygiene standards are the reasons for the district's decreasing infection numbers.
“I think the biggest challenge for the government was to coordinate the vaccination programs all over the country, but they have handled it successfully.
“However, people should always maintain the hygiene rules no matter what,” he added.
Medical Officer Dr Ramim Islam Ibne Noor of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital said: “We have been able to tackle the third wave of Covid-19 because people of the district are now aware of what to do. They have been maintaining hygiene rules and showing up at the vaccination centres to get their doses.”
He added that, since the pandemic was not over, people still need to fight against it to live. “In such times, awareness is the paramount,” Dr Rahim added.
