Lockdown not possible sans community inclusion: Tajul

LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam on Wednesday said community inclusion needs to be prioritised to make zone-based lockdown effective, especially in red zone areas.

He also urged to ensure other emergency services including health in areas under lockdown.

The Minister said this while inspecting the ongoing lockdown activities at East Rajabazar in the capital, said a press release.

Emphasising the importance of introducing telemedicine services in the lockdown areas, Tajul said that ambulances should always be ready in these areas to provide emergency services so that critically ill patients can be rushed to the hospitals.

He said free food items are being delivered to the homes of the poor and destitute in the lockdown areas. Arrangements have been made to deliver food and other necessities to other people.

Expressing satisfaction over lockdown activities in East Rajabazar, the Minister said that the lockdown has been carried imposed on an experimental basis and steps will be taken to implement lockdown in Dhaka and other parts of the country wherever needed.

Tajul said that it is possible to deal with coronavirus by using the experience of East Rajabazar.

Coronavirus situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18. Although initially the number of confirmed cases was low, they shot up once tests were increased.

On Wednesday, the health authorities confirmed the detection of 4,008 new patients in the span of 24 hours, increasing the total number of cases to 98,489.

During the same period, 43 more patients died from the virus infection, taking the death toll to 1,305.

Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December last year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic on March 11.

Source: UNB