Much like the rest of the country, the onslaught of the new coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow to people’s health, occupation, and the local economy in Rangpur division, reshaping the day-to-day lives of people here.
People are out of jobs and without income and the dismal unemployment rate is yet to recover while businesses struggle to reel from a drastic fall in revenue because of the countrywide shutdown.
Many have switched professions to survive this economic downturn. However, the shift has yet to yield returns according to some Rangpur city dwellers.
Abul Hossain, a former construction worker turned vegetable hawker, said after being unemployed for months he decided to take out his van and ferry vegetables around the city.
“I barely earn a few hundred takas daily which is not enough to support my family,”
Anwar Hossain, a hotel worker in the city, said even though some hotels and restaurants had opened in limited fashion, they found it difficult to find customers.
“Four consecutive months without income has left people like me in lower-income groups in dire circumstances. The extent of aid from the government was limited to 20kg of rice distributed in two phases to needy citizens.”
Salma Begum, a slum dweller in the city’s Lalbag, said she used to make a living as a maid at several student dormitories and bachelor quarters (mess) before the pandemic. But now, all these have been closed down due to the country-wide shutdown.
“Thousands of poor people like me are out of an income, forcing us to beg for our daily food.”
As community transmission of the deadly virus persists in several places in all eight districts, the division is witnessing a continuous rise in the number of cases. Meanwhile, locals openly flout health directives such as social distancing guidelines put in place by the government for everyone’s safety.
“People are out and about socializing, visiting local markets and shopping at malls without masks. These health directive violations are not monitored by the local administration. A number of bank officials have been infected in the city.
But, police, doctors, and healthcare workers remain the most affected,” said Dr Amin Ahmed Khan, Rangpur divisional director of the Directorate General of Health Services.
The local administration appears to be clueless on how to slow down the contagion and enforce stringent measures such as selective lockdowns in order to save lives.
Although the Rangpur district administration and city corporation declared some areas with high community transmission as red zones, they failed to enforce a lockdown in those areas to curb the spread of Covid.
In the face of public criticism, Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Asib Ahsan blamed the city corporation for its failure to enforce the lockdown. Rangpur city Mayor Mostafizar Rahman claimed he had offered assistance to the district administration for enforcing the lockdown in red zones.
Nor is the lack of testing facilities helping healthcare workers track and isolate active cases in the region.
There are two Covid-19 laboratories in Rangpur division—the Rangpur Medical College (RpMC) in Rangpur city, and the M Abdur Rahim Medical College (MARMC) in Dinajpur.
Given this scarcity of testing facilities, only a small number of the population of hundreds of thousands are able to get their samples tested, and most samples submitted take a long time before results are given.
The total number of Covid-19 patients rose to 5,689, and deaths to 100, as of Sunday, said Assistant Director (Health) for Rangpur division, Dr ZA Siddiqui.
“The breakdown of the 5,689 patients stands at 1,627 in Rangpur, 269 in Panchagarh, 626 in Nilphamari, 345 in Lalmonirhat, 437 in Kurigram, 334 in Thakurgaon, 1,437 in Dinajpur and 614 in Gaibandha of the division,” he added.
