We are apprehensive of what is to come as Covid-19 infection and death rates continue to rise to dangerous numbers in many districts across the country. While the nationwide positivity rate of cases went over 11 percent on Saturday, tens of districts besides the capital, especially ones along our borders, have been experiencing very high infection rates for the past couple of weeks at least.

All throughout last week, the districts of Chapainawabganj, Chuadanga, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Noakhali, and Bagerhat had experienced positivity rates of 30 percent or higher. Besides these, 36 other districts also have positivity rates of 10 percent or above. According to health experts and officials, this drastic surge is owed to the spread of the Indian variant of the virus (dubbed the "Delta variant") at the community level and lax implementation of restrictions and health guidelines.

The most alarming aspect of this situation is that the deadly threat that this surge poses is not reflected in how we are leading our daily lives, nor in how our healthcare system is built. Though a DGHS spokesperson reassured us that there is no oxygen shortage in the border districts experiencing high infection rates, we still worry due to reports by this daily stating that hospitals in Satkhira have to take their empty oxygen cylinders to Jessore to have them refilled, as they have no way of doing so on their own. The Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital recently upped its number of beds for Covid-19 beds from 20 to 50, but they were still at full capacity as of Thursday. Moreover this 250-bed hospital has no ICU facilities, and it cannot accommodate patients requiring more than 20 litres of oxygen per minute. Meanwhile, the lockdown in Dhaka seems to be mostly a sham as shops (besides pharmacies), vehicular movement, and many offices continue to operate in a business-as-usual manner. 

Experts from the Institute of Public Health and IEDCR agreed that it will only take another week or two of not imposing restrictions for the entire country to experience infection rates as high as those in bordering districts.

While we sincerely hope the government is working vehemently on ways to contain this surge and not let the number keep getting worse, we also fear that we are not learning from the grisly example set by our neighbour India's Covid-19 situation over the past couple of months. Our healthcare sector is still in a fragile state and cannot afford to be overwhelmed again as it was during the first two waves. Health guidelines and restrictions on gatherings have to be enforced more stringently while the vaccination programme must continue without any hitch and the authorities must try to increase oxygen supply and ICU beds in the public hospitals, especially those in the affected districts outside Dhaka.