Special Correspondent :
The country entered the second day of a ‘virtual’ lockdown on Friday after the government announced sweeping measures to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 48 cases after testing 1,026 people. Of them, five have so far died, 11 recovered while 32 others are undergoing treatment at different hospitals in the country.
Experts say Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, is at the high risk of spreading COVID-19 as hundreds of thousands of people returned to the country in recent weeks from Italy and other affected countries.
They also raised alarm that a wider outbreak would put the country’s healthcare system under severe strained when it lacks adequate ICU and ventilation facilities to provide treatments to patients, especially older people with existing health problems.
On Monday, the government announced a 10-day general holiday (from March 26 to April 04), asking people to stay at home to prevent the spread of mysterious coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
As the country entered the second day of this unprecedented hiatus from life and work, streets in the capital city were empty on Friday and troops were seen patrolling and checking vehicles on city roads to enforce the curb on travel and social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Besides, police personnel were asking people not to come out of their home and not to move around together even though they were two. There have been few incidents of people being chased away or beaten for getting out of home without needs.
All shops, businesses, shopping malls and public transport remained closed in Dhaka and across the country from Thursday, with the exemption of pharmacies, laboratories, banks supermarkets, petrol stations, healthcare providers and kitchen markets.
Many of the residents had left the city before transportation services were suspended and a 10-day nationwide general holiday was imposed to keep people at home.
Earlier, the government had ordered closures to
educational institutions, suspended bus and launch services and domestic flights to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As the capital Dhaka turns eerily quiet, Abdul Jalil, a 70-year-old living in Naya Paltan, feels the situation is similar to that of war.
“I had never seen anything like it. Dhaka looks like a haunted city.”
Though there was a ban on plying public and private transport in the city, CNG-driven three-wheelers, rickshaw and ride sharing motorbikes were seen on the city roads seeking rides from passengers.
“I’m not getting few riders as the city went under a ‘lockdown,’ said rickshaw-puller Abdul Khaleque, adding, “It has seriously affected my earnings.”
A lockdown like situation was also prevailing in most localities across the country as part of the government’s strict measures to stop runaway community transmission of the lethal virus.
Experts say that the authorities should ramp up testing, swiftly identify clusters of infection, and move resources to treat positive patients and isolate suspected ones.
“The whole country has already gone under a virtual lockdown creating an opportunity to slow down the virus’s transmissions,” Dr Muzaherul Huq, former adviser to the WHO’s Southeast Asian Region, told The New Nation yesterday.
He also stressed the need for rapid testing of suspected patients and building field hospitals to fight against the pandemic.
COVID-19, first reported in China in December last year, has affected 196 countries and territories and international conveyance.
Until yesterday, 531,000, cases have been confirmed globally with a death toll of 24,000, according to Worldometer.
The country entered the second day of a ‘virtual’ lockdown on Friday after the government announced sweeping measures to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 48 cases after testing 1,026 people. Of them, five have so far died, 11 recovered while 32 others are undergoing treatment at different hospitals in the country.
Experts say Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, is at the high risk of spreading COVID-19 as hundreds of thousands of people returned to the country in recent weeks from Italy and other affected countries.
They also raised alarm that a wider outbreak would put the country’s healthcare system under severe strained when it lacks adequate ICU and ventilation facilities to provide treatments to patients, especially older people with existing health problems.
On Monday, the government announced a 10-day general holiday (from March 26 to April 04), asking people to stay at home to prevent the spread of mysterious coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
As the country entered the second day of this unprecedented hiatus from life and work, streets in the capital city were empty on Friday and troops were seen patrolling and checking vehicles on city roads to enforce the curb on travel and social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Besides, police personnel were asking people not to come out of their home and not to move around together even though they were two. There have been few incidents of people being chased away or beaten for getting out of home without needs.
All shops, businesses, shopping malls and public transport remained closed in Dhaka and across the country from Thursday, with the exemption of pharmacies, laboratories, banks supermarkets, petrol stations, healthcare providers and kitchen markets.
Many of the residents had left the city before transportation services were suspended and a 10-day nationwide general holiday was imposed to keep people at home.
Earlier, the government had ordered closures to
educational institutions, suspended bus and launch services and domestic flights to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As the capital Dhaka turns eerily quiet, Abdul Jalil, a 70-year-old living in Naya Paltan, feels the situation is similar to that of war.
“I had never seen anything like it. Dhaka looks like a haunted city.”
Though there was a ban on plying public and private transport in the city, CNG-driven three-wheelers, rickshaw and ride sharing motorbikes were seen on the city roads seeking rides from passengers.
“I’m not getting few riders as the city went under a ‘lockdown,’ said rickshaw-puller Abdul Khaleque, adding, “It has seriously affected my earnings.”
A lockdown like situation was also prevailing in most localities across the country as part of the government’s strict measures to stop runaway community transmission of the lethal virus.
Experts say that the authorities should ramp up testing, swiftly identify clusters of infection, and move resources to treat positive patients and isolate suspected ones.
“The whole country has already gone under a virtual lockdown creating an opportunity to slow down the virus’s transmissions,” Dr Muzaherul Huq, former adviser to the WHO’s Southeast Asian Region, told The New Nation yesterday.
He also stressed the need for rapid testing of suspected patients and building field hospitals to fight against the pandemic.
COVID-19, first reported in China in December last year, has affected 196 countries and territories and international conveyance.
Until yesterday, 531,000, cases have been confirmed globally with a death toll of 24,000, according to Worldometer.
