Our battle against the coronavirus can only be won by providing proper treatment for the people, through raising awareness and curtailing misinformation regarding the disease, and enforcing strict health directives in public places while simultaneously bringing to book those who seek to flout these rules or wish to capitalize on the misery and ignorance of the people.
These can only be achieved through empowering our frontline workers – health care workers, journalists, law enforcement – who are, undoubtedly, our first line of defense against the rapid spread of Covid-19, and keeping our nation healthy and, subsequently, ensuring our economy gets back on track.
Unfortunately, our frontline workers remain some of the most affected by the disease, with the most recent results showing that close to 9,000 members of the armed forces and their families being diagnosed with the coronavirus, of whom 124 have lost their lives.
Regrettably, other sectors have faced similar consequences: As of mid-August, close to 7,500 health care professionals, 761 journalists, and over 15,000 members of the Bangladesh Police have been infected by the novel coronavirus, with close to 150 among them unable to recover from the deadly disease.
If we are to protect the people of this country from the pandemic, we must ensure that those in charge of protecting us are protected too, and do not perish at the hands of bureaucratic negligence and mismanagement.
It is only through providing our frontline workers with proper training and PPE, through proper cooperation and collaboration between governmental and private enterprises, and, most importantly, through prioritizing the health and safety of all concerned can we truly move towards eradicating the coronavirus once and for all.
