COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Wave-centric assessments and mitigation measures for future pandemics

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic COVID-19 caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has wreaked havoc globally by affecting millions of lives. Although different countries found the implementation of emergency measures useful to combat the viral pandemic, many countries are still experiencing the resurgence of COVID-19 cases with new variants even after following strict containment guidelines. Country-specific lessons learned from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic can be utilized in commencing a successful battle against the potential future outbreaks. In this article, we analyzed the overall scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh from Alpha to Omicron variant and discussed the demographic, political, economic, social, and environmental influences on the mitigation strategies employed by the country to combat the pandemic. We also tried to explore the preparedness and precautionary measures taken by the responsible authorities, the choice of strategies implemented, and the effectiveness of the response initiated by the government and relevant agencies. Finally, we discussed the possible strategies that might help Bangladesh to combat future COVID-19 waves and other possible pandemics based on the experiences gathered from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Assessment; Bangladesh; COVID-19; Experience; Mitigation; Wave.

Fig. 1

Comparative case fatality rates (CFR) of COVID-19 infections in different countries till April 05, 2022. Bangladesh experienced a lower number of deaths from the infected cases than many other countries of Asia and other continents until February 2021, but the CFR rate increased during March 2021. At present, the CFR rate is comparatively higher than most other countries (Source: Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center).

Fig. 2

Number of COVID-19 tests performed by different countries per 1 million people till April 05, 2022. Bangladesh carried out one of the lowest numbers of tests among the countries in Asia. In contrast, the number is even seemingly lower than in developed countries [4].

Fig. 3

(A and B) depicts the number of monthly COVID-19 cases and the number of deaths, respectively. Starting from March 2020, infections gradually climbed up in April and May before reaching a peak in June 2020. Afterward, the number of cases dropped gradually, especially in September, before flattening in October. While the cases did peak again in November with deaths peaking in December, both curves kept decreasing until February 2021. Beforehand, the number of recoveries in this country surpassed the number of active cases on July 12, 2020, and the trend kept sustained for a long time.

Fig. 4

(A and B) depicts the number of monthly COVID-19 cases and the number of deaths, respectively. The second wave arrived with two different peaks - once during April and once during July. The trend was flattened between the peaks with declining cases and deaths. July 2021 was the deadliest month faced in Bangladesh with the maximum number of cases and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Fig. 5

(A and B) depicts the number of monthly COVID-19 cases and the number of deaths, respectively. While the number of cases was at its peak in January 2022, the curve declined afterward. Interestingly, the number of deaths peaked during February instead of January before declining in March.

Fig. 6

(A and B) depicts the number of monthly COVID-19 cases and the number of deaths, respectively. Highest number of cases were found at the end of January 2022 and highest number of patients were found died at the early February 2022.

Fig. 7

Changes in remittance (in million USD) inflows in Bangladesh during the first, second, and third waves of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic (Source: Bangladesh Bank).