Amid the sudden spike in coronavirus infection, Health Service Division of the Ministry of Health is roughing out a proposal to slap strict restrictions on super-spreaders through mass gathering, social programme, religious ceremony, recreational centers and tourist spots.
As coronavirus caseloads ticked up sharply over the last the six days with 3,500 in a single day, it claimed 39 lives on Saturday which is highest in last three months.
The government is also considering to be tough on the mask denier and social distance flouters through mobile courts which will penalize the law flouters in every division, district and upazilas to contain the spread of the deadly virus, the draft proposal said.
“Upon receiving the proposal from the Health Service Division, after having a review it would be finalized to place before the Prime Minister for final approval, health minister Zahid Maleque told the Business Post.
“Mass gathering, social programme, religious ceremony, recreational centers and tourist spots are becoming source of coronavirus with the presence of super-spreaders. Amid the downtrend of virus infection for last few months, people started to become callous in maintaining social distance and wearing masks,” said the minister.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of United States said, mask wearing lessens the infection rate up to 70% and regular handwash and maintaining social distance help control spread of the deadly virus as it had so far killed 8,904 lives and infected 595,714 people.
Government moved slowly on slapping restrictions and making mask mandatory as nation celebrated the birth centenary of father of the nation and golden jubilee of the country’s independence.
Amid the government’s shrugging off the warnings about second wave of the Covid-19, health experts predicted that second wave will be more deadly if people don’t comply with healthcare guidelines.
Health experts are campaigning for restricting movement until the pandemic comes under control but government didn’t entertain their recommendations as the nation went to celebrate birth centenary of father of the nation and golden jubilee of the independent Bangladesh.
Talking to the Business Post a health ministry official seeking not to be named said, there is no plan for lockdown or national holiday right now rather government is planning for imposing restriction on social gathering, mass gathering and shutting down of recreational spots.
Talking about the health division’s proposal, Zahid Maleque said, “We will send the proposals to the prime minister within a day or two. After scrutinising the proposals, we will implement those recommendations to the field level in cooperation with the all the ministries”.
Health ministry sources said, there are over fifty officers and staffers of Directorate General of Health Services including director general and director contacted again after visiting Cox’s Bazar and St Martins with family members despite taking the jab.
Sources in the health ministry said, health division wrote to tourism board to know how many tourists travelled to Cox’s Bazar and St Martins from first week of March to March 20 and the reply was 25 lakh.
Government is identifying the tourist spots as number one hotspot for spreading coronavirus.
Health expert Professor Dr. Nazrul Islam who was also the vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said, people’s unnecessary movement must be strictly controlled and mask wearing must be mandatory for checking spread of coronavirus.
“Creating social awareness is important to keep people at home and maintaining social distance. Lockdown experience is not good in Bangladesh let alone a public holiday as people leave Dhaka city in their hordes which ultimately enable spread of the virus” Dr. Nazrul Islam.
sh/wi
