Noman Mosharef :
The rising trend of covid-19 is a threat for another debacle as Bangladesh has reported over 1,000 daily cases for three days consecutively.
Meanwhile, a group of Covid-19 forecast team has said, there is a possibility of arrive of second wave of deadly coronavirus in the country.
They are also predicting that the highest transmission of Covid-19 will reach in May this year.
Covid-19 forecast research group team member and also teacher of the Dhaka University’s Health Economy Institute Dr Safiun Shemul said, the second wave of the coronavirus had been found in various countries across the globe. So, there is possibility in our country also. But we could not say certainly that it will happen.
He also said, if we will follow the health guideline then it will be possible to avoid or prevent to more infection.
The country logged a total of 1,066 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours to Friday morning, taking the total number of infections to 555,222.
It was on January 10 when the country last recorded a higher single-day caseload above 1,000-mark (1,071 cases). Since then, the number of daily cases remained below the 1,000-mark, until Wednesday when the number of daily infections shot to 1,018.
The month of March has been witnessing an upward trend of rising cases day by day. On March 1, 585 new (above 500) Covid-19 cases were recorded, after almost a month of a lower rate of infections.
Meanwhile, the death toll climbed to 8,515 after 13 fatalities were recorded in the 24-hour period.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) revealed the latest figures on Covid-19 in the country via a press release on Friday.
Moreover, the transmission rate against the total number of cases currently stands at more than six percent and mortality rate 1.53 per cent.
Public Health experts blamed widespread breaching of health safety rules outlined by World Health Organisation (WHO) globally as well the DGHS in the country.
“The loosening of following health safety measures is the main reasons of increasing the caseloads in recent days,” Dr. Mukhlesuzzaman Hero, former Deputy Director of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University told The New Nation.
He said, “People started loosening of wearing face mask, maintaining social distancing and washing hands with soap for minimum 20 seconds, while they found that the probable second wave was not attacked.”
The public transports are breaching the safety rules acutely, he added.
People also are violating the safety rules in markets and everywhere, he said.
The expert said that government’s drive of preventing the probable second wave on the eve of the last winter was successfully prevented the virus spreading, but later all of us loosening the strictness.
When contacted, Professor Dr. M.Muzaherul Huq told The New Nation, “Covid-19 infection and spread can only be brought under control by an organised plan and system of vaccination all over Bangladesh simultaneously.”
The government’s mission to eliminate the fatal virus, should be no one is left from vaccinations out without proper scientific clinical reason, he added.
Another public health expert Dr Lelin Chowdhury said, if the freshly transmission would not be controlled it will make another disaster condition in the health sector as well as other sectors also.
Earlier on Tuesday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque, said that Covid-19 infections in the country are on the rise because people are travelling to different tourist spots like Cox’s Bazar, breaching health safety regulations.
“The way people are going to Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet and the way social events are going on without wearing masks or maintaining social distancing, the infection rate is bound to rise. Recently the number of patients in the hospital has increased too.”
He said, “People should not think that they are immune to coronavirus after taking only the first dose of the vaccine.
They should mind that the vaccine is just for protection. It will take time to be safe from the virus after taking the second dose of the vaccine.”
