Amid the steep rise in the coronavirus cases in the country, public health experts opined that less densely populated areas in Dhaka too are at the risk of spreading coronavirus similar to the other crowded areas. “We often blame the low income group people, mostly live in crowded places like slums, for being more careless. But people from less densely populated areas mostly posh areas are too at risk of getting infected,” said medicine specialist Dr Z M Kabir Chowdhury.
“Data shows that capital’s 42 less populated areas including Dhanmondi, Banani and Gulshan are reporting more cases. They too lack awareness,” he added. Since Bangladesh first reported the virus on March 8, as many as 28 cases were reported from Dhanmondi, 20 from Gulshan, nine from Banani, 20 from Hazaribagh, 36 from in Mirpur 14 and 72 cases from Rajarbagh.
As many as 40 confirmed cases were reported from Bangshal, one of capital’s busiest area, with many recovering Covid-19 the disease caused by coronavirus. One the other, only one case was reported in the Armanitola, a neighborhood area of Bangshal. Experts doubt that the real figure of the virus cases is much higher in these areas and the government’s low scale testing is to blame.
Many in posh areas like Gulshan and Dhanmondi often travel abroad, they pointed. People living in posh areas are aware enough to deal with Covid-19 as they see the physician at once as soon as anyone shows the slightest symptoms of coronavirus, said ASM Alamgir, chief scientific officer at Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
“One of reasons of more cases being reported from these areas is they attended gatherings, moved to different places. One the contrary, people in densely populated areas often stays in a specific place,” he argued. With maintaining social distancing, large scale testing and enforced quarantine can be option to prevent the virus, specialist Dr Kabir said.
