We need more tests

We are baffled at the claim of the authorities that there is no community transmission (when the source of infection is not known) of Covid-19 in the country on the basis of only a handful of tests that can hardly give any conclusive picture for a population as large as ours. Experts are insisting that too few tests have been conducted and this may lead to the situation being "misevaluated". While it is no help to be alarmist and create panic among the people, it is foolhardy to be complacent about a crisis that is almost certain to get worse before it gets better. The concerns of the experts come from the frightening trends of infection and deaths in many parts of the world where community transmission has taken place. Even the UK and US are experiencing increases in infections from community transmissions. So how can our authorities be so sure that this is not the case in Bangladesh?

According to the IEDCR officials, a total of 33 cases have been confirmed with only 365 people tested so far. This can hardly give a picture of the entire country, especially with a large number of people from Italy—an epicentre of the virus—as well as from other affected countries, entering Bangladesh and going to different parts of the country without going through the necessary quarantine. It has been reported that these people have been socialising in their hometowns, apart from all the contact with people before that, which significantly increases the probability of community transmissions. So far, three deaths due to Covid-19 have been confirmed, but IEDCR is yet to find out how the second person who died got infected.

The government must now pay heed to the virologists who are saying that many more tests have to be conducted. The IEDCR, which is the only centre where tests are conducted, have only 44 epidemiologists to collect samples, do the tests and research, and conduct contract tracing. This capacity has to be increased on an urgent basis with testing centres all over the country. Hospitals that have the testing facilities can help to increase this capacity. As experts have pointed out, the government needs to estimate how many people may get infected, how many need hospital care, and ensure ICU and other interventions, as well as protective gear for healthcare professionals, on an emergency basis.