Patients dying as hospitals lack proper equipment

The beginning of the worst of Covid-19 is on our doorsteps -- patients in Bangladesh have started dying in need of oxygen.

However, this shortage is yet to be caused by lack of oxygen supply and is rather happening because hospitals, especially in regional districts, are in dire need of oxygen treatment equipment.

The rapid rise in Covid-19 cases and oxygen demand is on the verge of exceeding national oxygen production capability, and hospitals are struggling to treat the unprecedented surge of patients.

All this points towards the health sector's severe disparity in medical facility distribution between the capital and the rest of the country.

Why, even after all this time, has the health sector been failing to adequately prepare for the pandemic?

On Straight from Star Newsroom, Moudud Ahmmed Sujan discusses these issues with The Daily Star reporter Zyma Islam.