Now is not the time for complacency

We are pleased to know that the healthcare sector of Bangladesh is now much better equipped to deal with surges in Covid-19 cases than it was last year. In 2021, the major challenges that the healthcare sector encountered was ensuring supply of Covid-19 vaccines to inoculate a huge chunk of the population, and that the infected got beds, ICU support, and adequate oxygen. Following these challenges, the government rightly faced widespread criticisms after failing to ensure some of these basic healthcare facilities months after the pandemic began. Fortunately, now our hospitals are much better prepared.

Having said that, even though we don't fully understand how dangerous the Omicron variant is, we have seen how it has caused havoc in some parts of the world—including some of the most developed countries with healthcare facilities that are miles ahead of ours. Moreover, even though on paper our healthcare facilities seem to have improved, it has not yet been fully tested. We hope that proves to be the case, and that the new variant of the coronavirus does not spread at the same rate here, as it has done elsewhere. However, we must prepare for the worst—and in line with that, continue to improve the conditions of our hospitals to be able tackle any potential new surges of Covid cases.

We must remember the lessons we learnt last year, when some might have prematurely thought the pandemic was over once infection rates began to go down in the beginning of the year, only to explode later on—and the stress that put on our healthcare system. In order to avoid such a mistake, we urge the authorities to ensure that our hospital facilities do not deteriorate, and that all healthcare staff maintain the same standards they had done towards the later parts of the previous year. Moreover, one aspect that is yet to be addressed properly is the corruption that has been plaguing our healthcare sector—which we saw even during the worst times of the pandemic. This, too, is something that the authorities must address with utmost focus and urgency.