Saturday, April 20, 2024
BNP on Tuesday alleged that the coronavirus infection is increasing at a geometric rate in Bangladesh due to the country’s poor testing capacity and the government’s failure to tackle the situation.
“People have to endure immense sufferings to undergo coronavirus tests for lack of necessary testing facilities. So, thousands of people with the virus symptoms are roaming around, contributing to the rise in infections at a geometric rate," said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
He came up with the allegation at a virtual press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.
The BNP leader said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is failing to enhance the testing capacity for lack of skilled manpower and suitable laboratories. “The lack of capability of the health directorate has become evident.”
Rizvi said the scarcity of sample collection equipments and test kits have taken a serious turn while people have to wait for a long time to receive their test reports.
He said samples collected from rural people have been piled up at the district headquarter labs. “As a result, a question has been raised about the acceptability of the test reports.”
Rizvi also said the real corona situation in the country cannot be assessed due to the poor testing capacity and authentic test reports.
Though three-and-a-half months have passed by since the detection of first three corona cases in the country, he said an anarchic situation has been prevailing everywhere only because of the government’s failure to contain the transmission of the deadly virus.
Rizvi said there is no specific policy of the government and central coordination to deal with the corona pandemic. “Thousands of people are now at the risk of death due to the government’s repeated wrong, suicidal and uncoordinated decisions and steps to contain the great disaster like Covid-19.”
He also said the government’s main focus is on indulging in ‘plundering and corruption’ instead of eliminating the virus.
