In the fight against any form of adversary -- let alone against a global pandemic due to a novel coronavirus -- collecting data and information is of paramount importance. If we are to look at the countries which have been the most successful in combating the spread of Covid-19, the collection of information and data has been central to their strategy.
This is why it is all the more disheartening to learn that when it comes to Bangladesh, there is no data on district-wise death count due to Covid-19 available on official government websites.
This is disappointing because, far from giving a complete picture of the overall scenario of Bangladesh, the media, and by extension the public, are being deprived of all the information that is critical to understand where the country truly stands as far as death count and infections go.
As things stand, the unfortunate reality is that we are yet to know how badly Bangladesh has been affected by Covid-19 due to the lack of data from most parts of the country -- and this is worrisome, to say the least.
However, there is no reason why we cannot reverse this issue; the ICT division -- along with private organizations -- has already come up with solutions for contact tracing, which should prove to be a good way for collecting data moving forward.
It may be difficult and challenging to collect data and information from across Bangladesh, but given the severity of the pandemic, we require pro-active thinking and innovative measures to devise plans to do so, and not keep the people in the dark about where the country truly stands.
