Amidst the global pandemic of coronavirus which has overwhelmed many countries including China, South Korea, Italy and Iran, the World Health Organization has called on member states in South-East Asia Region including Bangladesh to urgently scale-up aggressive measures to combat COVID-19. Currently, there are over 480 cases in the region, and action must be taken immediately in order to keep the numbers of infection low.
Out of 11 countries in the South-East Asia Region designated by WHO, eight have confirmed cases. These include Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The number of infections are also increasing quickly.
The matter is of great urgency as countries which now have thousands of infections, like Italy, were too slow to respond with appropriate measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The government must take more
aggressive action in order to
prevent an outbreak in the country
As more time passes, increasing numbers of clusters are being identified in the region, which is cause for deep concern. The spread of the virus is exponential, which means that in case of an outbreak in the country, the numbers would explode very quickly. In such a situation, it would overwhelm our medical care system and result in thousands of deaths.
Therefore, the government must take more aggressive action in order to prevent an outbreak in the country. All travellers coming into the country through planes, boats or through the land borders must be detained securely for the duration of the quarantine. Inter-district travel must be severely restricted and all employees should be given the opportunity to work from home.
The authorities need to increase their testing capacity as so far only 10 cases have been detected. Mass awareness is crucial and the public must be made to understand the grievousness of the situation.
Simple public health measures are critical including practicing hygiene, and practicing social distancing. Self-initiated isolation by people with mild diseases is crucial in order to reduce the burden on the health system and reduce virus transmission.
