COVID-19 pandemic and the story of brave fighters

Bangladesh was first struck by COVID-19 directly on Mar 8, 2020. Three Bangladeshis were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection for the first time in this country on this day. We were fortunate not to have been affected by the novel coronavirus in the earlier days. The disease had struck China 65 days ahead of us and 104 countries and territories had experienced the heat of COVID-19, before it arrived at our shores. We have seen the most developed healthcare systems of the world falling to the COVID-19 onslaught one after another. When the wards of Spanish hospitals were overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, they were being accommodated on the streets in front of the hospitals in Prague and while the mortuaries of Italian hospitals were clogged with dead bodies due to shortage of coffins, we have seen the New York City administration busy digging mass graves in advance.

The healthcare providers of Bangladesh, as elsewhere in the world, were not spared from the rampage of COVID-19. However, nowhere in the world have we seen them giving up ground and seeking shelter. They have dedicated themselves to serving the COVID-19 patients across the globe amidst an unprecedented shortage of gloves, masks and PPE. They have fallen victims to COVID-19, recovered and returned to work. An internet search reveals that until May 24, as many as 812 physicians in Bangladesh tested positive for coronavirus. During this same period, 316 of them recovered and returned to work. This scenario has prevailed at every corner of the globe. By the end of last month, the number of healthcare workers infected with coronavirus in Italy crossed six thousand and in Spain, it reached the twelve thousand mark.

Not all affected healthcare workers, unfortunately, were that lucky. We have seen Dr Md Moin Uddin Ahmad, Professor Col (retired) Dr Moniruzzaman, Dr Syed Zafar Hussain Rumi, Professor Maj (retired) Dr Abul Mokarim Md Mohsin Uddin, Dr Amena Khan, Dr Abdur Rahman and Professor Dr Jahangir bidding a final farewell to their families, to their profession and to us having lost the battle against COVID-19. While we have shed tears in Bangladesh on six sad occasions for our fallen colleagues, our colleagues in Iran had to shed tears on 126 occasions and in Russia on 186 occasions till the middle of this month at the untimely demise of their professional colleagues from COVID-19. And in Italy and UK, which are members of the league of the most developed eight nations of the world, the number of physicians falling victim to COVID-19 stood at 100 and 30 respectively one and a half months back. However none gave up the battle, neither 26 years old Dr Rabia in Pakistan, nor 70-plus Professor Maj (retired) Dr Mokarim in Bangladesh. That is why when the humble reception accorded to 50 healthcare providers, who returned to work after defeating COVID-19, by the authorities of the Shaheed Suhrawardi Medical College Hospital in Dhaka was televised across different TV channels of the country, the nation took immense pride at the event and bowed down in respect at the same time.

The first person who tried to make the world aware of COVID-19 was a Chinese specialist physician Dr Li Wenliang. He worked in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, where this pandemic originated from. While treating in a city hospital Dr Li came across some patients with atypical pneumonia. He tried his best to make his hospital authority aware of this emerging menace. However, this whistleblowing was at least not at all pleasant for Dr Li. He was harassed by the officials for allegedly spreading rumours. However before the pages of the calendar could turn a few times, the sound of Dr Li's whistle is now being heard across the globe loud and clear. Unfortunately, though the world is yet to be free from COVID-19, China almost is and most importantly Dr Li's favourite Wuhan city has celebrated victory over the virus. Dr Li has also earned eternal freedom! His name stands out bright on top of the growing list of healthcare providers who have fallen to COVID-19 across every corner of the world.

The battle against COVID-19 is not at all pleasant for the healthcare providers. On one hand, it is an uphill struggle against an invisible enemy. To add to this was the undesirable experience of social humiliation. In the early days, many in this country had their doubts about the sincerity with which the healthcare providers of this country would stand beside their countrymen. That doubt has almost dissolved. However, we still cannot claim that our society has reached a mental state where we don't look down upon our healthcare providers for the 'guilt' of serving in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. Nor can we say that a landlord is necessarily unhappy if his healthcare provider tenant vacates his property, despite the fact that he was assured of getting his rent paid off regularly. It is true that we have come a long way since then, when Nasrul Hamid, our State Minister for Power, Energy Mineral Resources, had to announce that power supply would be disconnected if healthcare providers were harassed by their landlords and our Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Iqbal Mahmood had to declare that he would order inquiries into the source of funds of landlords for similar allegations. Even we from the Health Assistance Committee of Forum for Secular Bangladesh and Trial of War Criminals of 1971 issued a press release denouncing such harassment. The situation is no doubt much better today, we only expect it to be even better.

However such ill-treatment and harassment of healthcare professionals have been reported from even the most developed parts of the globe. One can see many such instances just scrolling down the internet where not only Chinese, but healthcare providers were harassed in the US on numerous occasions as carriers of SARS-CoV-2, if only they were of Asian descent.

As time has passed, governments of the world have acquired increased capabilities to combat COVID-19 by many folds. The same has also happened in Bangladesh. Unlike the initial days, when our physicians were faced with the unjust responsibility of facing COVID-19 without proper gears, the situation has more or less had a 180 degrees turn-around since then. I still remember that around three months back, top official of a leading TV channel of the country approached me for photographs of local physicians serving COVID-19 patients in proper PPE, as they could not get access to such photographs despite their best efforts. We have rapidly come out from that stage to such a position today that we can take pride in exporting 6.5 million PPE to the US. Our healthcare providers were never forced to serve in COVID-19 hospitals covering themselves with bin bags like our colleagues in the UK, nor did we have to stand in front of the gates of the Bangabhaban, like the nurses in Washington DC, who brought out processions in front of the White House demanding PPE.

This turn around by Bangladesh has largely been possible because of the direct supervision and at times direct interference of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. We have seen her ordering an inquiry into alleged irregularities with masks at live video conference televised all over the country. Similarly, we have also seen her taking immediate remedial measures to install PCR machines on a priority basis in Narayangonj when informed of this necessity by a junior physician at another live video conference.

Recently the government has taken an enviable step to step-up the country's capability in tackling COVID-19. More than five thousand physicians and two thousand nurses have been appointed by the government. This was, however, no new Guinness record, as the government has already clinched that record by appointing more than ten thousand physicians in the government health cadre in a single go a few years back.

However the history that was created through this initiative is of unparalleled magnitude. Today's appointment of five thousand physicians comes in a difficult setting. A responsible prime minister, on one hand, has taken steps unmatched anywhere in the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the constitutional right of her people of access to healthcare. On the other hand, thousands of young professionals with barely any professional experience have happily accepted the challenge of serving COVID-19 patients. I am pretty sure that this also is something that has no second example in the world.

Since I am a specialist physician, I have to join COVID-19 related talk shows quite often these days in online and mainstream electronic media. In these programmes a common question that I am asked is whether I have any advice to the young physicians of the country. Whenever I am asked with this question, I have hardly anything to say, but it fills my heart with immense pleasure. Who can be more satisfied than me in this mortal world who has such exemplary junior colleagues and every month who receives salaries from a government that is headed by a farsighted and caring prime minister like Hasina?