The government disease control agency and the health agency have recently hinted at spreading of coronavirus through community transmission in the country, which experts said a dangerous sign. “Some small-scale community transmission has already started to take place, and it is a dangerous sign. Any further spreading of the disease must be stopped before it wreaks havoc,” said Dr ABM Abdullah, personal physician of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“Strong practice of social distance must be followed to stop COVID-19,” said Dr ABM Abdullah warning that curfew can be imposed if necessary. “The IEDCR or the health department cannot act alone to stop community transmission of Covid-19,” he added. On Saturday, the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Dr Abul Kalam Azad, in a virtual press briefing said the evidence of cluster-based transmission has been spotted.
"We have found cases in 15 districts, but we are considering those as clusters where two or more patients have been identified within a close area. We have found such clusters in Dhaka city's (64 patients in Dhaka) Basabo and Mirpur areas, in several upazilla's of Dhaka (four patients), In Narayanganj (23 patients), Madaripur (11 patients) and Gaibandha (five patients) are four clusters," he noted.
According to IEDCR, The other patients have been identified in Jamalpur (three patients), and Chattogram (two patients), while one each has been detected in Cox's Bazar, Comilla, Shariatpur, Gazipur, Faridpur, Chuadanga, Narsingdi, Moulvibazar, Rangpur and Sylhet. On March 25, the IEDCR director, Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, said they suspect community transmission of Covid-19 has been taking place, but on a limited scale in two areas of Bangladesh.
On Sunday, Dr Meerjady echoed DGHS chief Abul Kalam confirming five clusters of coronavirus infections in the country. “Infections were largely concentrated, often within a family and its circles.” Dr Shahnila Ferdousi, director of the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) of DGHS, however, said otherwise.
Limited-scale of community transmission in five cluster areas does not indicate that the virus has already spread all across the country, she added. “The IEDCR has identified the areas where limited community transmission of COVID-19 has taken place with necessary measures to contain the virus being taken,” she was quoted as saying.
On March 7, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a videoconferencing said the country may face a massive hike in Covid-19 cases in April.
“We have reports predicting a massive rise of the virus in Bangladesh,” she said adding the government is ready to overcome the crisis. A nationwide shutdown is in place since March 26 with suspending communications, closing offices and schools, banning gatherings including payers for indefinite period of time.
