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Bangladeshi Citizens Response to Covid19

COVID19 has somehow become the reality for everyone today. However, there is something distinct how Bangladesh’s have been undergoing this crisis and the nationwide lockdown. The interview has tried to dwell into the questions pertaining to a Bangladesh’s response to the COVID19 Crisis and the challenges associated to it.

About the Expert

Professor Shahab Emam Khan

Professor Shahab Enam Khan teaches at the Department of International Relations at Jahangirnagar University. Professor Khan is also works as Research Director at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute. Professor Khan can be reached via: shahab.e.khan@gmail.com

 

Interview with the Expert 

 

Q1. When did the people got aware of COVID-19 and how did they respond to it?

A. There are two ways to look into it, one is the government's awareness and response, and the other is social awareness and response. The government was notified about COVID-19 thing when it took place in Wuhan. Our first three cases were identified during the first week of March 2020. After that, the government responded to it, although the responses were pretty slow. The political and health communications, since both the government and the individuals were grappling with the new and unfolding situation, remained problematic. Till now, there is still a sense of gap and lack of coordination in the COVID19 responses.

The public, at large, became aware of the virus since it was found in Wuhan as the media was quite active on this issue. In terms of public response to COVID-19 only came when the government declared it as a pandemic as per the World Health Organisation (WHO). We even hosted public elections after the pandemic was declared, and the RMG factory owners kept their factories opened. So, people had contradictory messages to rely on. However, the public started to take the lethality of COVID19 into cognizance after the Lockdown, known as a pubic holiday, since late March.

 

Q2. When do you think that citizens realised about the seriousness of COVID-19 in Bangladesh?

A. The moment the government declared it as an emergency and the discussion over a country- wide lockdown was declared, people started to take things seriously. Before that, it was not being taken seriously by any stakeholders. Even the garments factories were open amid the COVID19 till the first week of April. Perhaps this has happened when the cabinet of the government has members involvedin the RMG business. This is pretty frustrating to see how the RMG factories were dealt with despite their representation in the cabinet. However, lately, though, the public has understood health emergencies. However, one should not forget that a large segment of the work force is involved in the informal sector. That would necessarily compel many to look for jobs or work, which would require outdoor activities.

 

Q3. Do you think that the Citizens of Bangladesh, they are taking enough steps to limit the spread of this virus Are the citizens also as devious as the government is?

A. I think seriousness is growing. The dilemma between earning and survival from the virus still looms large. Good that there is a considerable understanding of the problem, owing to media, NGOs, and social communication. While there were late and contradictory public statements and information, people indeed resorted to social media and traditional media. The risk, however, is misinformation, false information, and hyped up contents. There is always a group of people who believes in conspiracy theories or who overly exercise their cultural freedom. Sometimes we used to see that religious freedom is being misused too. So, I think now, after the first week of April, religious and RMG communities gained a greater understanding that people should stay home. So, I will not say that 100 percent of people will be following the government's procedure or government's directives, but yes, the number has increased substantially over the past weeks.

 

Q4. Is there any similarities and differences between rural people's response and urban people's response to this pandemic?

A. There has been an almost similar level of awareness about the COVID-19 in both rural and urban people. However, the reflection of this awareness varies. The socio-cultural mindset and structure of society matter too. The data collection strategy or methodology remained conservative, which largely stifled intervention and communication strategies. A large number of people left Dhaka – a city reported as one of the highly-dense cities in the world – when the lockdown or so-called public holiday was announced. The rural society here is much more integrated in terms of their social, cultural, and oral networking. So, they are much more unified compared to urban society. The response to the pandemic was disproportionate earlier; the urban society was much more pro-active as earlier as this pandemic was seen as Dhaka oriented.

 

Q5. What is the current situation right now in Bangladesh after the imposition of Lockdown?

A. The current situation, I think, first of all, the Lockdown is being enforced in varying degrees, which means now the armed forces are also working in aid of the civil government in imposing the Lockdown.

Bangladesh also has limited public health infrastructure, and it is getting tougher for it to respond to this pandemic situation. While the government has claimed to take precautions since January or February, apparently, public media has repeatedly contradicted the claims. As I would give the benefit of the doubt to the government, I would assume that the government is in the process of setting up and procuring appropriate tools and equipment. To fight this situation, tools such as personal protective kits (PPE), masks, ICUs and ventilators are required, and Bangladesh is facing a shortage of some fo these items. The good thing is that the private sector has come in to help in this situation. They are working hand in hand with both government and the armed forces. World's largest NGO BRAC has assumed an essential responsibility by providing financial aid, food distribution, and health interventions. This is a commendable initiative. Private hospitals have been authorized to take COVID patients long after the virus hit the country's territory. This is a relief for the public too. India and Pakistan have involved the private sector way ahead of Bangladesh.

The electronic conglomerates are also helping to make ventilators. We are also seeing that several private groups are now setting up temporary hospitals in different locations. The private sector is also responded.

The problem of the religious congregation has been dealt with much later than expected. This is a common problem for India and Pakistan too.

 

Q5. Is Bangladesh also facing supply shortages due to the Lockdown? Are people hoarding things? 

A. That's not happening at the moment, which is a good thing. But, a significant number of the population has been pushed down from the poverty level. In fact, a recent report published by BRAC showed the distressing result of poverty caused by COVID. The supply of food to the marginalized and vulnerable segments will always be challenging. This is again a South Asian problem of governance. I think the supply has been sufficient until now. The shopping and grocery stores are catering to the needs of the public, the Police and the armed forces are helping in food distribution under Lockdown, local government is effectively engaged in the process too. Yes, there was an initial tendency toward hoarding basic supplies both by the public and the traders. I think government is going hard on the traders to keep supply stable. So I think for now we are sufficient in terms of supply of essential commodities. If the Lockdown continues to be extended beyond May, the global supply chain may become effected, which is undoubtedly put pressure on financial and food sectors.

 

Q6. How have the citizens responded to this Lockdown? Who are mostly affected due to COVID- 19 and nationwide Lockdown? How has the government tried to help the affected groups?

A. The first group of people who have been affected the most due to the Lockdown is essentially the daily wage labourers and people who are employed in the informal sectors. These are the people who have been affected significantly as their livelihood largely depends on day to day earning. A significant number of them have gone back to their villages or towns from Dhaka or other urban centers. These people now do not have enough means to sustain a life without a job or financial stimuli in the long run.

Since the late-March, the government has taken initiatives to reach out to these people and provided them with basic food and planning to provide financial incentives until the Lockdown is over. So that is one set of measures that have been taken for the marginalized people.

The second group of people who are affected is people are who are suffering from other diseases rather than COVID. So this is a season when weather changes and people mostly get cold and fever. Moreover, various diseases are continuing like any other time. It's a regular flu season. In Bangladesh, most of the hospitals are not equipped enough to make a distinction between COVID-19 affected persons and regular patients. So in many cases, the hospitals are unable to provide the public in general with adequate medical support.

The third group is women. A majority of workers in Bangladesh's readymade garments industries are women, and their income has been affected due to the shutdown of factories. Also, women work in cities as daily wage laborers, and domestic help had to go back. So for them, their employment through which they were contributing to their families has been affected. They are the first responder in crisis situations as women, in general, takes care of their families. Their wellbeing is of perennial importance to run a family.

The last group is the workers working abroad or known as diaspora. In our economy, remittance from abroad plays a significant role. The majority of our foreign workers work in the Middle East and other countries. There is already a report that 12% of remittance has dropped due to the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Q7. As you talked about the remittance plays a very significant part in Bangladesh's economy. So have the migrant workers returned in recent months?

A. Yes, many people have returned from the Middle East, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, and China in the last 3-4 months. The government claims that they have been monitoring the returnees, and testing was done at the airports. Unfortunately, testing may have to rely on conventional methods since the thermal scanners in the airports were non-functional for quite sometimes. For all practical purposes, we did not have enough resources required to monitor the health of people who came between January and March. However, the movement to Bangladesh since March has been heavily controlled. So, I think the inflow of possible contaminated people to Bangladesh has significantly reduced after March.

 

Q8. When you talk about testing, is the testing restricted to Dhaka and in and around areas or it's happening in the far areas?

A. Initially, it was heavily centralized and based in Dhaka, which was a significant setback. But now the government is working in full to reach out to every corner. The testing facility has been expanded to 12 different points with different hospitals and organizations have now been mandated to do testing. This is a late response, but in any case, better late than never. Infectious disease monitoring authority is doing testing. But again, compared to the population, the number of testing is insignificant because we have a population of 170 million.

As said earlier, the data collection or scope may have been inadequate, which I assume requires serious investigation. During the post-COVID19 one crucial task would be to revamp the health sector, change of mindset from politics of number to quality and reach, and conduct a public investigation on transparency and accountability of data and information provided by the public representatives and agencies, and why these were contradictory and adequate measures were not in place since January 2020.

Now there is a strong directive from the Honorable Prime Minister to decentralize the testing mechanism and sample collection. But again, if you take the time from the first case which was reported in March and till now, a considerable time has been lost. Good that the public agencies are working hard to reach out to every corner.

 

Q9. Social distancing is one major step which has been used l across all the world. So do you think that social distancing is a feasible step in Bangladeshi society? Is it possible for people to remain a social distancing ?

A. Yes, I think social distancing is working well, although it is not working in the same manner across the country. But, generally, in the urban areas in public places, it's working reasonably well. The main issue is that when people are distributing aid or relief, a large number of people flock together to get the relief materials. This has been distressing, and at times the competition for media appearance caused havoc. We have also seen, in many cases, that people are gathering together to get government- subsidized or provided relief and ration.

So, these are some instances when social distancing is violated. I think the onus lies in how we distribute these reliefs in public, how we manage supply, and how we ensure law enforcement. However, with the enforcement of no unnecessary outdoor movement after 6 pm will help in improving the situation.

 

Q10. I wanted to answer that what is one USP or edge with the citizens of Bangladesh have in fighting the spread of Coronavirus?

A. I don't think the global medical community has come up with any uniform criteria as yet. However, I would say that people above 60 with health issues and populations between 18 to 35 with or without health issues are in more possibility of getting affected. However, the youth is playing a considerable role in fighting the COVID in terms of medical services, law enforcement, economic activities, and social mobilization. Doctors, law enforcement agencies, and youth are the biggest USP or strength in our fight against COVID-19.

 

About the Interviewer:

 

Mr. Alakh Ranjan 

Alakh Ranjan is currently working as Research Assistant with Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). He has done his Masters International Relations and Area Studies, specialisation in South Asia and Bachelors in Journalism from GGSIP University. He has also worked as Young Professional on politics and foreign policies of Nepal and Bhutan at Vivekananda International Foundations (VIF). His research focuses on Soft Power Diplomacy and Indian Foreign Policy in the Neighbourhood.