UNB :
The current trend of plummeting Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh could well be the obvious calm before a cataclysmic storm.
The warning has come from some of the leading public health experts in Bangladesh, who are apprehensive of a third wave of the Covid pandemic. At the heart of their fears are children below 12 who remain out of the vaccine coverage and the elderly people. These experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity,
sheer disregard for Covid-safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh-a trend many European countries are witnessing now.
Bangladesh on Thursday reported five more Covid deaths and 244 fresh corona cases in 24 hours.
With the latest figures released by the Directorate General of Health Services, the death toll and the caseload in the country have reached 27,939 and 1,573,458, respectively.
Some 33,995,948 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 52,983,555 received the first dose as of Wednesday, according to the directorate.
Public health expert MH Chowdhury Lenin, chairman of the medicine department at Health and Hope Hospital, says the second wave of Covid has remained controlled in Bangladesh for several weeks.
“We’re now in a relaxed mood over the prevailing Covid situation in Bangladesh, but we also have an apprehension that it may deteriorate anytime as many European countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, are already facing a fresh wave of the deadly virus,” he says.
Lenin warns that coronavirus cases have also started soaring in Iran and some areas
of China. “So, this virus also can surge anytime in our country and there is no room for complacency over the current controlled Covid situation.”
With the lockdown phase over in Bangladesh, Dr Lenin says that most people are now reluctant to adhere to the basic health safety rules-be it sporting masks or maintaining social distancing.
“Bangladesh has so far fully vaccinated around 20 percent of its population, but a swathe of people still remain unprotected. So, we must always remain alert and we can’t afford to let our guard down,” he says.
Prof Mushtuq Husain, a consultant at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), echoes similar sentiments.
“No country is free from a fresh outbreak of Covid as long as the virus is not eliminated from the entire world. We saw earlier that corona was almost gone from some countries with a zero infection rate. But the virus cases surged alarmingly in those countries again,” he says.
According to the expert, there are sporadic cases of Covid transmission in Bangladesh now, with 250 daily cases on an average. “It can turn into a community transmission anytime as there’s no travel restriction now. On the other hand, a deadly muted variant can hit our country,” he warns.
Prof Mushtuq says that many countries are witnessing a fresh Covid wave though their vast population is vaccinated. “Our country is a densely populated one and most of our people are still unvaccinated. So, we’re at risk of a fresh wave of the virus.”
