Covid fear loses way in cattle markets

The government's condition of maintaining health guidelines for allowing cattle markets ahead of Eid-ul-Azha seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The measures instructed by the government at the cattle markets include checking of body temperature at the entrance, which would have disinfectant chambers and proper handwashing stations as well.

The cattle markets must provide separate entry and exit points to enable one-way movement of buyers throughout the venue and avoid crowding at the venue, as per a notice from the Press Information Department (PID) on Tuesday.

The correspondents visited makeshift cattle markets at Gabtoli, Kochukhet, Dhupkhola, Sadeque Hossain Khoka Playground, Postagola and Mohammadpur and found none of the instructions was being followed.

Neither were there separate walkways nor were there handwashing facilities at the entrance. The body temperature was not being checked either.

The entry of the elderly and children are supposed to be restricted inside the venue as they are more vulnerable to Covid-19. But buyers, old and new, were seen casually moving about.

What is most frightening was that only a handful of people were seen wearing masks at these markets -- at a time when the coronavirus caseload and fatalities are spiralling.

Bangladesh is amongst the top 14 countries in the world in terms of the number of daily cases at present.

Though health experts have been asking the government to extend the 'lockdown' enforced on July 1 for a fortnight, the restrictions were relaxed for a week for the religious festival.

The atmosphere at the cattle markets suggested no one was bothered about getting Covid-19, with the nearby tea stalls were buzzing with customers.

Almost all traders who have gathered from different districts and areas were found without masks.

Take the case of Al-Amin, who brought five cows from Chuadanga to the Dhupkhola cattle market. When quizzed where his mask was, he pulled one out from his bag.

Another trader Mokhlesur Rahman at Gabtoli said he feels uncomfortable wearing masks.

"It's hard to talk with customers with the masks on," he said.

On the other hand, no visible activity of law enforcement agencies, who were active during the lockdown to enforce people to wear masks and maintain health guidelines, was seen at the cattle markets.

Amir Ali, a resident of Tolarbag of Mirpur, went to Gabtoli along with his wife and son. None of them had masks on.

When the correspondent approached Ali, he whipped out a mask out of his pocket.

Rakib Imran, the leasee of the Gabtoli cattle market, said they are frequently asking people to maintain health guidelines on loudspeakers.

The temperature measurement machine has gone out of order, said Jakir Hossain, president of 43 no. ward Awami League of South Dhaka and advisor of the Sadeque Hossain Khoka cattle market.

Probed about the absence of handwashing facilities, he said: "Yes. We will set up washing basins."

Shafiqul Isla Bacchu, manager of the Kochukhet cattle market, gave similar replies to the questions.

Contacted, Tazul Islam, the local government and rural development minister, said: "We will look into the irregularities."

"We all need to maintain health guidelines for our own sake. The government is doing its best. The people also need to do their part to win the war against the virus," he added.

One does not need to be an expert to infer that the rampant violation of health guidelines at the cattle markets will increase infection, said Mohammad Shahidullah, president of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19.

"The hospitals are almost full. There are chances that many will not get treatment if the number of patients rises," he said.