Border districts woefully underprepared for Covid-19 surge

Over the past week, there has been a worrying surge of coronavirus cases in border districts, with some displaying positivity rates that range from 20 percent to a whopping 40 percent. While there is, of course, a pressing need for action to contain transmission and ensure the new strain of Covid-19 doesn't spread across the country, it is equally important to ensure that there are adequate facilities in place to deal with the fallout should the cases continue to rise in these districts.

However, a report in this daily yesterday detailed how almost all of these districts are woefully underprepared. Examples from upazila health complexes, general hospitals and medical college hospitals paint a dire picture—of insufficient numbers of oxygen cylinders and concentrators, inefficient processes of refilling said cylinders, lack of N95 and KN95 masks, limited isolation beds, limited or no ICU facilities, inadequate manpower in covering daily shifts, and more.

What is truly frustrating is that although we have been dealing with the pandemic for over a year and experts have been issuing warnings of a potential second wave of Covid-19 for a while now, the concerned authorities seem to have taken little heed. For example, although these districts received some N95/KN95 mask supplies last year, the government's own data shows that other than Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and the occasional general hospital, most healthcare facilities have been supplied with nothing this year to protect their staff from becoming infected. In Chapainawabganj, Natore and Kushtia, there are already more admitted patients than there are isolation beds. Across the board, we see a health system that is struggling with very limited facilities and lacking the capacity to handle a Covid-19 surge. 

While it is heartening to know that the DGHS has given the green light to all healthcare facility heads in the bordering districts to collect all necessary equipment from the Central Medicine Store Depot, we cannot help but wonder: if there are enough PPEs and oxygen cylinders available at the Depot, why on earth are so many healthcare facilities operating below capacity, more than a year into the pandemic?

The health ministry has come under severe scrutiny for the widespread corruption that has been exposed during the pandemic—from the scandal of fake N95 masks and subpar PPEs to irregularities in the purchase of medicine, surgical equipment and other machines. The border districts' lack of capacity in dealing with what could be an impending crisis is the symptom of a much wider issue of mismanagement and corruption, a lack of planning and blatant inefficiency. Although these issues should have been dealt with months ago, the authorities still have a small window of opportunity to ensure that healthcare facilities in the border districts have the capacity to provide proper care to Covid-19 patients while also protecting their frontline staff. It is absolutely imperative that they take actions now.