Dhaka’s Tolarbag, an example on COVID-19 fight

North Tolarbag, the first locked down area in Bangladesh after two of its residents died of coronavirus in March, has relaxed the stay-at-home rules as no new cases have been reported recently.

The residents of the area panicked as the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) locked down their area on 23 May terming it a ‘hotspot’ after two in the neighbourhood died on 21 and 22 May.

After 48 days, police patrolling has been relaxed in North Tolarbag because all the 17 patients infected with COVID-19 recovered from the disease by 10 April and no new cases were reported there since then.

Deputy commissioner (Mirpur Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Mostak Ahmed told Prothom Alo on Monday that they withdrew police patrolling after consulting with the IEDCR officials.

One of the security guards of the residential area, Kalu Mia, said that the do not allow any outsider to enter the area and they stay on guard 24/7.

Shuvashis Biswas, president of the House-Owners' Association of the area, told Prothom Alo it is a matter of relief that no new cases have been reported in the area.

However, a kind of lockdown prevails there as a precaution, he added.

According to the locals, the residential area has at least 672 flats in 40 nine and 10-storey buildings where more than 3000 people live. Behind the residential area, there is a slum where around 1000 people live.

North Tolarbag in Dhaka’s Mirpur can be a good example for other areas in the country about how to tackle COVID-19 efficiently.

The piece has been rewritten in English by Imam Hossain.