COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
[10] For a long time, testing was centralised to only Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in the capital Dhaka, although patients with symptoms were reported all around the country.
[14] A series of hotline numbers, email address and the Facebook page of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) are provided for people to contact if they suspect COVID-19 infection or need more information.
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.
[39] On the topic of easing the lockdown measures, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said "Economic activities have to be resumed for the sake of the lives and livelihoods of people.
[45] ABC News Australia reported that 290 teams of soldiers were deployed across the country, that streets were empty in the capital Dhaka and the roadside shops were closed.
[59] In an attempt to curb the rise in infections, on 5 April 2021 a seven-day lockdown was announced by the Bangladeshi government, including all domestic travel suspended and shopping malls shut alongside a curfew between 6pm and 6am.
[62] On 6 April, merchant groups held protests in the capital, demanding an end to the lockdown, and the safe reopening of shops, by following hygiene guidelines.
[66] The Bangladesh Police are implementing movement passes, which must be issued from their web site to leave your home, including for jobs, grocery purchases or medical needs.
[75] Throughout the first half of July, Bangladesh regularly recorded its highest daily deaths since the pandemic began[76][77][78][79][80] as hospitals struggled under the strain, with many operating above their capacity.
[81] On 1 July 2021 Bangladesh went into another national lockdown, planned to last seven days,[82][83] amidst a surge in cases and deaths towards the end of June — thought to have been driven by the transmission of the Delta variant.
The army and Border Guard Bangladesh were deployed to enforce the measures and all offices and shops were shut with only local food markets allowed to open for a few hours a day.
[89] Despite continuing high numbers of daily cases and deaths, the government confirmed that restrictions would be eased from 15 to 23 July to accommodate the celebration of Eid-ul-Azha and the economic activity around it.
The interim easing of measures was decided "considering the socio-economic condition and the need to maintain normal economic activity", according to the notice from the Cabinet Division.
[91] In the run-up to Eid, there was widespread movements of people as thousands traveled from the cities, with trains and buses struggling to enforce restrictions on their operating capacity.
[102] However, days later it was announced that export orientated factories would be permitted to reopen from 1 August,[103] causing a rush of workers back to the industrial heartlands on 31 July, increasing fears of transmission.
[107] It was widely argued in the national media to declare proclamation of emergency[108] although the Sheikh Hasina government pragmatically handled the COVID-19 situation within the constitutional scheme of normal times.
Most of the Bangladeshis were students and PhD researchers at different universities in the Hubei province in China where their provincial government launched multiple screening tests before allowing them to get on board the plane.
[21] International flights began to resume from Dhaka airport on 16 June 2020, with only Qatar Airways and Biman Bangladesh Airlines initially permitted to fly.
[116] According to Human Rights Watch, "Since mid-March 2020, the authorities have apparently arrested at least a dozen people, including a doctor, opposition activists, and students, for their comments about coronavirus, most of them under the draconian Digital Security Act.
[131] In June 2021, the authorities gave permission for private hospitals and laboratories to conduct antigen tests,[132] which are able to return a result in 20 to 30 minutes, but which are less reliable.
Whilst affordable in comparison to private sector charges of 3000 to 4000 taka per test, it was suggested that this still disincentivizes people, especially considering almost one in four Bangladeshis live below the national poverty line.
[144] Globe Biotech took all the necessary steps from December 2020 to January 2021 to get the permission for ethical approval to conduct the first clinical trial of Bangavax, which also got listed in the 'Draft landscape and tracker of COVID-19 candidate vaccines'[145] by the World Health Organization (WHO).
[162] Some have suggested online classes will only further the "educational divide" whereby the most disadvantaged students (who usually attend public universities on scholarships) will fall behind their peers due to lack of accessibility.
The government stipulated that all passengers must possess a document certifying a negative test result, which had been carried out within 72 hours prior to travel, regardless of destination and airline used.
[181] Most of these workers have struggled to find work in Bangladesh on their return, with 70 per cent unemployed according to an International Organization for Migration report published in August 2020.
One in ten households in the camps were reported to have at least one individual above the age of five with a chronic illness or disability, increasing the risk of complications or death if they contract COVID-19.
[182] The high population density, poor sanitation facilities and limited access to healthcare in the camps are all conducive to the spread of viral illness such as COVID-19.
The fear of death or losing a loved one can be very distressing for a child, especially when many have already experienced intense trauma and loss, having been forced from their homes in Myanmar and stuck in a congested refugee camp for the past three years."
[188] On 18 April 2020, during the general lockdown, a massive crowd of an estimated 100,000 people gathered in Sylhet to attend the funeral prayers of Islamic scholar Allama Maulana Zubayer Ahmed Ansari.
[citation needed] In July 2020, several arrests were made after it emerged that Regent Hospital in Dhaka had issued thousands of fake COVID-19 negative certificates without conducting the testing.
