Common people are feeling a sense of panic and confusion over countrywide cold, fever and respiratory-related deaths, saying that the deaths could be stemming from coronavirus infection. A resident of Mohammadpur area, Khandaker Amiruzzzan while talking to Bangladesh Post over phone said, “We’re staying home, but there are numerous cases of deaths reported in the media. I’ve seen it on social media and television as well that many people are being refused when doctors find symptoms similar to coronavirus.”
“I’m worried about our future. My sons and wife are barred from going out of home, but it’s really devastating when we find this sort of news on television. It’s shocking; government should provide treatment to sick people who have symptoms like corona,” Another panicky person from Jigatala, Saidul Islam echoed the same.
“We’re panicked about these death cases. I’ve stopped watching television and reading news. It’s hampering my mental peace,” he said. Since the 1st of April, the numbers of deaths with corona-like symptoms are on the rise. Nearly twenty people have died according to published news in the media. Besides, many deaths were not caused by corona, as physicians later clarified after samples had been tested.
Every day, women and children are dying of fever, cough, sore throat and asphyxia in the country. In most cases the cause of their death remains unidentified, but if the local administration suspected that the deceased was infected with corona, they forced their family members as well as neighbors to stay in quarantine.
Even some areas are being locked down. With this, there is a growing concern in the public mind. Unstable conditions have been created in many parts of the country. Experts say, unidentified death is having a negative impact on the members of the public. The situation would be difficult for the administration to handle information, and people concerned.
Meanwhile, experts point out that it has already become clear that people of different classes have also created impressions. Some people have begun to move unconsciously as before, with the notion that the incidence of coronavirus is not so apparent in the country. On March 31, a person was buried after treatment at Kuwait-Bangladesh friendship hospital when he had corona symptoms, the burial video went viral over social media.
Meanwhile, a man died at Kushtia General Hospital on Monday after suffering from cold, cough and breathing problems. Kushtia Civil Surgeon HM Anwarul Islam said the man was suffering from cold, cough and breathing problems for three days. It is thought he may be infected with the coronavirus. Samples are being collected for this. The body will be buried in accordance with IEDCR rules.
Khulna Medical College Hospital Director, ATM Manjur Morshed said two men died and had coronavirus symptoms. One of them came from India. But he could not confirm whether they had corona as there was no corona test lab in Khulna. Though, he said as there was no coronavirus examination anywhere outside Dhaka, doctors are also in panic.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl, Kakali, who was suffering from cold, fever, cough, breathing difficulties and throat pain, was admitted to the isolation ward at Jashore General Hospital on March 29, but doctors said after her death on March 30, she had not been infected with corona.
Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19 rose to six as one more person died from it in the last 24 hours. Three more persons have been tested positive, taking the number of cases in the country to 54. Health Minister Zahid Maleque confirmed this on Wednesday from the regular briefing of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
He also said, one more patient recovered from the virus. A total of 26 people recovered from the coronavirus infection until yesterday (April 1). Meanwhile, the global death toll from COVID-19 reached 42,151 as of Wednesday. Zahid Maleque urged people to stay indoors to prevent the spread of coronavirus. “Stay home, stay safe, " he added.
