Bangladesh reported the first death from Covid-19 virus on March 18, 2020. The man was hospitalised prior to his death. He was believed to have been infected following contact with someone who had recently returned from abroad.
The virus caused 7,559 deaths in 2020, and 20,513 people died in 2021.
Thanks to various steps, including free vaccination, the fatalities went down to 1,368 in 2022 and another 37 in 2023. No fatalities were reported last year.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh recorded one deathโthe first after a year and a halfโtaking the toll to 29,500 and cases to 2,051,739, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The recovery and death rates remained at 98.42% and 1.44%, respectively.
Bangladesh was praised for fighting the pandemic smartly. Despite facing challenges, including the economic meltdown due to the Russia-Ukraine War, Bangladesh ranked fifth globally in Covid-19 recovery by one index.
The government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina adopted a National Preparedness and Response Plan with the support of WHO. โFrom the start, we had to strike a balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods,” she said.
โWe ensured the free provision of medicines and PPE for those in need. The number of ICU beds was more than doubled,” she told a high-level meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) held at UN Headquarters in New York on September 20, 2023.
She mentioned that from zero facilities, testing laboratories were set up in 885 centres. Oxygen supplies were secured in almost all hospitals. About 11,000 doctors and 13,000 medical support staff were recruited within months. With a fatality rate of 1.46%, the frontline workers did wonders.
She also said that a dedicated digital app was launched to administer vaccines entirely free of charge.
โWe reached vaccine coverage of 93% with at least a second dose. I called for pandemic vaccines to be considered global public goods,โ she added.
Sheikh Hasina said that the government rolled out a stimulus package worth $26.9 billion.
โWe provided direct food assistance to more than 40 million low-income people. Bangladesh extended support to other friendly countries as well as to our migrant workers abroad,โ she added.
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