IEDCR: Community transmission of coronavirus on limited scale

Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Prof Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora has said they suspect community transmission of Covid-19 is happening on a limited scale.

However, it is unlikely that community transmission is happening all across Bangladesh, she added.

On March 22, a man died of Covid-19 in Dhaka’s Mirpur area and he was the neighbour of another man who died from the disease at Delta Medical College and Hospital on March 20.

The current population of Bangladesh is 164,246,668 with a density of 1265 people per square kilometers as of Wednesday, March 25, 2020, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.

Bangladesh’s high population density suggests that if coronavirus starts spreading, then a huge number of people will be in danger.

Researchers and health workers around the world are advising everyone to maintain social distancing as it is the only preventive measure that can be taken against this deadly virus.

However, in Bangladesh, people can be seen joining mass gatherings without any concern whatsoever.

After the government announced a public holiday, a large number of people went to their hometown in fully packed trains, buses, and launches.

Italy and Germany, two European powerhouses can be compared to draw out a picture of how immediate response can be effective to fight coronavirus.

Italy has diagnosed 69,176 total cases where 6,820 people have died as of today whereas Germany saw only 171 deaths from 33,952 total cases of coronavirus infection.

Researchers and experts are saying Germany’s policy of aggressively testing since the outbreak has helped them to identify asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic persons to separate from the mass.

However, a grim picture can be noticed in Bangladesh’s case. IECDR has tested less than 1000 people so far and only 92 people yesterday.

From March 8 to March 25, 33 samples have been tested on average every day.

This low number of testing suggests a lot of people who might be asymptomatic are roaming around in the community and spreading the virus.

Till date, Bangladesh recorded five deaths and 39 infections from the Covid-19 pandemic announced by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The fast spreading coronavirus, which was first reported in China's Wuhan, has claimed more than 18,800 lives and infected over 422,600 people across the world till date, according to Worldometer.

More than 108,000 people have recovered from the virus which has spread to 196 countries.