A mass exodus from capital Dhaka as well as from other metropolitan cities and district towns has gotten underway with people rushing home desperately and recklessly amid the Covid-19 havoc.
With the infection and death rate from the novel coronavirus touching records every day in Bangladesh, people are now engaging in indiscipline and moving away from all norms of civility despite the nationwide lockdown.
People are now even reluctant about wearing masks and maintaining social distancing outdoors.
While visiting different areas of different cities on Friday, our correspondents found no discipline among citizens. They were moving on roads and vehicles without maintaining social distancing. Some carried face masks but did not wear them.
A resident of Pangsha Upazila Anjum told Bangladesh Post, “Here, most people do not wear masks nor maintain social distancing. Even if one wears a mask, people ask many questions like how are you or from where do you come.
When Saifur Islam, a rickshaw puller carrying mask but not wearing it was asked why he was not wearing it, he said that it was very difficult to breathe wearing a mask when driving.
In the kitchen market at Plassey, sellers were not wearing masks, but asked the customers to maintain social distancing. They were busy just selling their products.
Health experts feared that such kinds of activities would bring untold and uncountable disasters for the country as the virus is now passing its peak time.
They opined that people should be more alert and aware about the deadly virus as its now transmitting on a cluster basis.
The government has allowed reopening some business sectors with maintaining health facilities and social distancing.
At the same time, the government has allowed people to go to different places using private vehicles in any emergency, but people are using this negatively.
Prof Nazrul Islam, former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and virology expert said, “We are now passing a very crucial time as the novel coronavirus passing its peak time. But it’s very ominous as people are not maintaining the lockdown discipline that is now very much needed. From imposing lockdown in the country, people followed the government instructions and maintained the health safety discipline to protect against the deadly virus.”
This month is very crucial for us. We have to identify the number of corona patients and send them into isolation.”
The government should take steps immediately to increase the number of laboratories and tests, he added.
Another health expert, Dr Benazir Ahmed said that contact-tracing of infected corona patients is very important. Once it is traced, the authority can easily test their samples. But firstly, people should follow the pandemic discipline to fight against the Covid-19, he added.
Warning citizens with the coronavirus reaching its peak, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said, we have passed 70 days of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
“I think that we are going into the peak time of the deadly virus as infection rates are increasing,” he added.
However, the tally of infections from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bangladesh Friday exceeded 30,000 as 1,694 fresh cases were detected over a 24-hour period, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The fatalities from the pandemic have climbed to 432 after 24 new deaths, the highest in a single day, were registered during the period, it said.