Any unnecessary panic over coronavirus will intensify danger and create obstacles to prevent probable infection, said Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Director, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. She talked about the issue during a regular press briefing at the IEDCR in Dhaka on Saturday.
In a recent incident, a Chinese national was not allowed to enter his rented house and was forced to stay at a hotel, said Flora. She said people were being overly cautious. As an infection prevention mechanism, the IEDCR earlier urged everybody from abroad, especially people from China, to stay indoors for the next two weeks. She said that if any infected person is forced to stay outside, it could increase the chances of spreading the disease.
With over 78,000 cases worldwide and roughly 3,000 deaths it is mind-boggling to say that we should not worry over the virus. When cases have reached Kolkata, our neighbour, is it impossible to say that we are not already affected and remain uninfected. Lying is easy under this government and so, the people are worried about the Health Ministry’s preparation to cope with the fast spread coronavirus.
All over the world drastic precautionary measures are taken against the most dangerous contagion. Delay and other missteps helped produce the largest outbreak of the virus beyond China. Iran has closed schools across 14 provinces. South Korea is preparing to lock down cities and restrict travel.
In such a situation what are we doing? We are being asked not to panic (and die silently). Besides some random screening there is almost nothing. Quarantine hospital facilities are not adequate. No effort to meet the need of specially trained nurses. Hygienic masks are terribly short and the prices of these already have skyrocketed. We were not aware of it, if World Health Organisation didn’t approach for special equipment and guidance.
This is a virus which has a fatality rate of over two per cent. Our healthcare system is already creaking under the existent disease burdens. We still remain totally unprepared to deal with any epidemic let alone one such as corona epidemic which has no present cure.
We don’t even have enough kits to test more than a thousand people for coronavirus. The entire world has a shortage of face masks. Though China is the major producer of it but it isn’t making any new masks for export as it needs all the domestically produced ones. If China has a shortage of masks then we are in greater problems.
So then if someone says not to be unnecessarily panicked about the quick contamination by the disease merely from closeness of an infected person or from polluted air, he is to be found incompetent and insensitive. The person involved here is no less a person than a Director of a major health research institute.
As a high official of the health sector let her be responsible and let the nation know what precautions have so far taken to stop people dying from panic creating disease. Do not forget–it is life and death–and the people are angry about incompetence of the government in every sphere.
