Bangladesh has seen coronavirus transmission and deaths from the COVID-19 rising almost at the same rate five months after the detection of the first patients, triggering calls from the experts to go for mass testing after re-imposing lockdown.

“But they [health ministry] don’t care about what we say,” said a disenchanted Professor Nazrul Islam. He is a member of the government’s National Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19.

“The health ministry isn’t listening to us,” said Prof Rashid-E-Mahbub, a former president of Bangladesh Medical Association.

The two city corporations in Dhaka had planned to clamp lockdowns on areas marked as ‘red zones’ with high infection and death rates after experimental restrictions in Wari and East Rajabazar yielded some results.

“But the plan stalled due to Eid-ul-Azha. And lockdown is not solely our issue. Many ministries and agencies are involved in it,” said Mominur Rahman, chief health officer of Dhaka North City Corporation.

https://bdnews24.com/coronavirus-pandemic/2020/08/21/expert-advice-to-beat-back-covid-19-goes-unheeded-in-bangladesh