Why are coronavirus deaths on the rise?

A 2,000-bed field hospital dedicated to treat the novel coronavirus infected patients at the International Convention City Bashundhara, DhakaProthom Alo file photo

In Bangladesh, the number of detected COVID patients is declining every 24 hours, but contrary to these statistics, the number of deaths is increasing. On average, more than 40 people have died of coronavirus every 24 hours in the last six days. As of Friday, 47 people had died of the virus in previous 24 hours. The numbers were 45 and 54 respectively on 27 and 26 August. Why is the number of coronavirus deaths increasing when the government claims the infection to be declining?

A partial answer can be found in a statement by Khurshid Alam, acting director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). He said, “Though there is no specific initiative to reduce mortality, there is no lack of treatment for coronavirus patients.” This means the DGHS did not take any specific initiative to abate deaths in corona. But the public health advisory committee had submitted a written outline to the DGHS recommending it to take specific initiative in order to decrease coronavirus deaths. The health ministry or DGHS, however, did not undertake any such initiative. Where is the essence of the DGHS acting director general’s claim that there is no shortage of treatment for coronavirus patients?

Why do more than 11,000 beds of 15,000 remain vacant across a country with surging patients like Bangladesh? Yet patients have to take shelter on the floors, in the corridors or in the corner of the stairs as no hospital can accommodate them.

In fact, the condition of coronavirus patients’ medical treatment in Bangladesh is deplorable. Due to this, people are not interested in being admitted to hospitals despite being infected by coronavirus. There are 14,843 beds in the COVID-19 hospitals across the country. Of these, 11,045 are vacant which means people are not so confident in the treatment at COVID hospitals.

It is rare in the world that patients lose trust in hospitals. Why do more than 11,000 beds of 15,000 remain vacant across a country with surging patients like Bangladesh? Yet patients have to take shelter on the floors, in the corridors or in the corner of the stairs as no hospital can accommodate them. Does this question make the officials of the health ministry and DGHS think? Member of the public health advisory committee and public health expert, Abu Jamil Faisal, told Prothom Alo that the health ministry is not taking the coronavirus deaths seriously. Otherwise, they would take initiative to address the mortality.

Initiatives are imperative to reduce deaths in coronavirus. Implementation of the written outline of the public health advisory committee is crucial in this regard. A review of the admission of the patients at COVID hospitals and their deaths shows that a major cause of their death is late admission. Regarding the death of 93 patients at Mugda hospital in Dhaka, it was found that 11 of them died within two hours of admission while 22 died within 24 hours and 12 within 48 hours. This means, a large number of number of patients are being admitted to the hospitals at the eleventh hour when they are in critical condition. One of the reasons for this is the lack of people’s trust in hospitals. They are trying their best to receive treatment at home, but when the patient’s condition is turning critical, they are going to hospital.

This situation should change. It is necessary to take initiative to restore the trust of the coronavirus patients, improving proper treatment at hospitals in order to get coronavirus patients to the hospitals.