Incentives for those on the front line

The health professionals will also get an insurance coverage of up to Tk 10 lakh.

Government officials and law enforcers, who too are putting their lives at risk to make the ongoing shutdown effective and curb the spread of coronavirus, will get insurance coverage, said a finance ministry proposal.

According to the proposal, if anyone catches the infection, there would be a health insurance coverage of Tk 5 lakh, Tk 7 lakh or Tk 10 lakh depending on ranks, position and grade, said finance ministry officials.

If anyone dies, the amount of the health insurance coverage will be five times higher, said the proposal sent on Saturday to the Prime Minister's Office for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's approval, the officials added.

They also said that since the government ordered the closure of all offices since March 25 till April 25, doctors, nurses and other health workers, who are working amid this shutdown, will get an incentive worth two months' basic salary.

"We will make an official order soon after we receive the prime minister's approval," a top finance ministry official told The Daily Star.

They estimated that around 50,000 to 55,000 doctors, nurses and other health workers are now fighting against the deadly disease at government hospitals.

In a televised address to the nation, Hasina, on April 13, ahead of Pahela Baishakh, said that doctors, nurses and other health workers are continuing to provide treatment to Covid-19 patients from the front line, ignoring the constraints of resources and the risk of death.

"Yours is a challenging profession," she said.

The PM, on behalf of the country, thanked and hailed the health workers, saying the government has already directed the authorities concerned to prepare a list of the health workers who are directly dealing with coronavirus patients.

She said health officials would be given special honorarium, and Tk 100 crore was being allocated to this end, while Tk 750 crore was being allocated for the coverage of health and life insurance, she said.

Finance ministry officials said in a rough estimate they found that around 2.5 lakh officials are working across the nation.

Doctors, nurses, and health workers are facing an overwhelming workload with no end of this situation in sight. On many occasions, they are doing such a stressful job while they are under-protected, overworked and vulnerable to the infection themselves.

To make matters worse, many patients reportedly hide their health and travel histories.

On the other hand, other officials who are performing their duties to ensure essential services and social distancing to make shutdown effective, are coming in contact with so many people, which increases their risk of infection, as the virus is now spreading within communities.

The government is going to announce the incentives against the backdrop of Dr Md Moyeen Uddin, assistant professor of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital -- the first doctor in the country to die from Covid-19 on April 15.

A total of 115 doctors and at least 50 nurses across the country have already tested positive for coronavirus till Saturday, Doctor Md Shahed Rafi Pavel, chairman of the Bangladesh Doctors' Foundation, told The Daily Star.

He said that two months' basic salary was not a main reason to work. "Doctors should be given proper treatment if they get infected by coronavirus and they should be given a handsome amount as insurance coverage," he said.

He also said that doctors should be given WHO-recommended protective gear and facilities at hospitals while treating patients.

Officials said that at least 67 police and several government officials were also infected with coronavirus till Sunday.

The government has already announced various stimulus packages worth Tk 95,619 crore, which is 3.3 percent of the GDP.

On April 15, Bangladesh Bank announced that bankers will get a month's basic salary if they work at least 10 days during the ongoing shutdown.

The central bank order also said that contractual staffers at banks will get 65 percent of their salaries as special incentive, which will range from a minimum of Tk 30,000 to a maximum of Tk 100,000.