BANGLADESH has gone into a seven-day “strict lockdown” from Thursday with army and police ordered to stop people leaving their homes except for emergencies, to curb the highly infectious Delta variant induced surge in pandemic in the country as per a decision taken at the Cabinet meeting held on Monday. However the lockdown could be extended by another week, if necessary, the cabinet secretary told the media after the meeting.
In addition to the police, BGB, armed police battalion and army have been deployed to enforce strict restrictions. This time “movement passes” have not been provided to anyone. People involved in health care, media, gas, electricity and water services and public safety are being counted in emergency services. Excluded from the lockdown are also garment factories as the sector is a key export earner. Kitchen markets have also been excluded from restrictions.
An important issue facing the strict lockdown is how to care for the extreme poor whose livelihoods have been cut off. In particular, rickshaw pullers, van drivers, auto-rickshaw drivers, day labourers, hawkers, and those who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, are in severe trouble. The government’s plans to give the vulnerable groups food or money do not cover all people falling under these categories. A large number of these people will go half-fed or without food, it is feared.
The National Advisory Committee on Covid-19 recommended the strict shutdown to stem the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the country. Health experts have however suggested massive vaccination, saying lockdown is not the ultimate solution to curb the pandemic. The country is expected to receive this weekend the first shipment of 2.5 million Moderna vaccines under the Covex initiative of the UN. A Chinese Embassy official also said Beijing is sending about 2 million Sinopharm vaccine doses that Dhaka bought, in addition to 1.1 million jabs already donated by Beijing.
We want the government to arrange vaccination for at least 80 per cent of people at the earliest as it is the only solution to the pandemic, not lockdown which paralyses economic activities and hits the poor and limited-income people hard. Countries like the United Kingdom and the United States are considering withdrawing pandemic restrictions as they have vaccinated significant numbers of their populations at a high speed. Our government should speed up efforts to bring an adequate number of vaccines to the country for continuing mass vaccination to cover a majority of the population at the shortest possible time.
