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Bangladesh, a south Asian country, has been referred to as Asia's emerging tiger because to its GPD increase during the previous five years. Bangladesh has maintained 6.5% GDP growth in the previous few years, with the exception of 2020, due to the covid scenario. Bangladesh's government intends to be designated a high-income country by the World Bank by 2041. Effective assessment of energy and mineral resources, policy, and effective resource diversification are required to fulfil growing energy demand and achieve the nation's objective of 2041. Natural gas which supports 60% of commercial energy can be support 10 to 12 years by it exiting gas reserve. In 2041, the demand for NG will be 5868 mmscfd, while imported LNG delivering the majority of assistance. Bangladesh's government has initiated a few measures to explore for oil and gas offshore, as well as constructing an LNG facility to receive imported LNG. Bangladesh takes the initiative to build a dirty fuel-based power station (coal-based plant) with coal from the country's five coal fields as well as imported coal. Bangladesh possesses a significant quantity of minerals due to its distinct geological environment, including limestone, hardrock, glass sand, construction sand, white clay, brick clay, peat and beach sand. Repetitive policies, effective resource allocation, R&D, and public-private partnerships are essential for Bangladesh to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 7. The review focused on energy and mineral resource reserves, as well as problems for future development plans in Bangladesh.
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OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the research was to investigate and identify the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in Dhaka, Bangladesh by using ground-based observation data. METHODS: The research assessed air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic for PM2.5 from January 1, 2017 to August 1, 2020. The research considered pollution in pre-COVID-19 (January 1 to March 23), during COVID-19 (March 24 to May 30), and post-COVID-19 (May 31 to August 1) lockdown periods with current (2020) and historical (2017-2019) data. RESULTS: PM2.5 pollution followed a similar yearly trend in year 2017-2020. The average concentration for PM2.5 was found 87.47 µg/m3 in the study period. Significant PM2.5 declines were observed in the current COVID-19 lockdown period compared with historical data: 11.31% reduction with an absolute decrease of 7.15 µg/m3. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the research provide an overview of how the COVID-19 pandemic affects air pollution. The results will provide initial evidence regarding human behavioral changes and emission controls. This research will also suggest avenues for further study to link the findings with health outcomes.
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Background Since the detection of first corona virus infection in Bangladesh on 8th March, 2020, it has been spread to the whole country quickly. Though there is lack of proper treatment facility, diagnostic facility, lack of awareness, unwillingness of people to follow the social distance guideline and lack of other containment strategies, the prevalence of COVID-19 infection especially severe and symptomatic infection among people of Bangladesh specially among working people like garment workers, people living in slum areas and rural areas are low.Objectives The purpose of this research was to determine the sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody (IgG) among Bangladeshi garment workers.Methods A cross-sectional and observational research was conducted on 402 garment workers. (69.4% female; mean age = 28.9 ± 6.9 years) in Dhaka city. A semi-structured questionnaire including informed consent as well as, socio-demographics and COVID-19 infection related information, was used to conduct the survey. Blood samples of all participants were also collected to measure the SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody (IgG). Serum level of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody (IgG) was assessed by Chemiluminescent immunoassay technique as per instruction of manufacturer.Results The prevalence of sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody (IgG) was 80.8% which was slightly higher among females compared to male but not significant (82.1% vs. 78.0%, p > 0.05). It was notable that no significant differences were obtained in other socio-demographic information (e.g., age, education, marital status, residence, and economic status).Conclusions The findings reflect that the SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody (IgG) was prevalent among garment workers in Bangladesh. It may be due to the virus itself, genetic factor of virus, people and presence of preexisting immunity specially SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody due to previous cross infections with other corona viruses in Bangladesh.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Tumor Virus Infections , Cross InfectionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The news media play a critical role in disseminating accurate and reliable information during an outbreak like COVID-19, especially in LMICs. Studying how people react and reflect on the information provided and how it affects their trust in health systems is essential for effective risk communication. This study was undertaken to explore and analyse newspaper readers' reactions to the unfolding news of the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh and how this affected and shaped their compliance with the mitigation measures advised by the Government. METHODS: We collected readers' comments on relevant news and features on the COVID-19 outbreak (n = 1,055) which were posted in the online versions of the four top circulating Bangla newspapers and one online news portal published during Jan.-Apr. 2020. A search protocol was developed and a team of three researchers searched and extracted data for content analysis according to some pre-determined study themes. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed several characteristics with implications for risk-communication: a faith-based and fatalistic attitude to the unfolding pandemic, a "denial" syndrome in the initial stage, a returning expatriate-bashing for specific countries, and a concern about the safety of the frontline health workers. The readers were resentful of the all-pervasive corruption in the health sector even in times of a pandemic and the Government's poorly coordinated, fragmented, and delayed COVID-19 response. The pandemic severely shook their trust in the already weak health system and perceived it to be incompetent, corrupt, and non-responsive. They had deplorable personal and family experiences while seeking treatment for COVID-19 patients. Expert committees were formed to advise the Government, but few recommendations were implemented on the ground. This helpless scenario made people sharply critical of the political leadership, especially for the failure of providing stewardship at the moment of crisis. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 related information reaching the people, including misinformation, disinformation, and rumours was equivocal in the early months of the pandemic and failed to build the trust and transparency that is necessary for an inclusive response across constituencies. The Government should pay attention and weightage to people's perceptions about its COVID-19 response and take appropriate measures to re-build trust for implementing pandemic control measures.
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Background: The news media play a critical role in disseminating accurate and reliable information during an outbreak like COVID-19, especially in LMICs. Studying how people react and reflect on the information provided and how it affects their trust in the health systems, are important for designing effective risk communication. This study was undertaken to explore and analyse newspaper readers’ reactions to the unfolding news of the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh and how this affected and shaped their compliance with the mitigation measures advised by the government.Methods: We collected readers’ comments on relevant news and features on the COVID-19 outbreak (n=1,055) which were posted in the online versions of the four top circulating Bangla newspapers and one online news portal published during Jan.-Apr. 2020. A search protocol was developed and a team of three researchers searched and extracted data for content analysis according to some pre-determined study themes.Results: Analysis of data revealed several characteristics with implications for risk-communication: a faith-based and fatalistic attitude to the unfolding pandemic, a “denial” syndrome in the initial stage, a returning expatriate-bashing for specific countries, and a concern about the safety of the frontline health workers. The readers were resentful of the all-pervasive corruption in the health sector even in times of a pandemic and the Government’s poorly coordinated, fragmented, and delayed COVID-19 response. The pandemic severely shook their trust in the already weak health system and perceived it to be incompetent, corrupt, and non-responsive. They had deplorable personal and family experiences while seeking treatment for COVID-19 patients. Expert committees were formed to advise the government, but few recommendations were implemented on the ground. This helpless scenario made people sharply critical of the political leadership, especially for the failure of providing stewardship at the moment of crisis.Conclusions: The COVID-19 related information () reaching the people including misinformation, disinformation, and rumours was equivocal in the early months of the pandemic and failed to build the trust and transparency that is necessary for an inclusive response across constituencies. The government should pay attention and weightage to people’s perceptions about its COVID-19 response and take appropriate measures to re-build trust for implementing pandemic control measures.Funding Information: The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interest.Ethics Approval Statement: The very nature of the data (readers’ reactions and comments) did not allow us to get individual consent for participation. Also, the reactions/comments were posted by name only without an address, thus further follow-up being impossible. However, the study followed ethical principles in conducting the study and the confidentiality of the data was strictly maintained by the study team and the readers’ reactions /comments were used anonymously for research purposes only.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Blindness, CorticalABSTRACT
Objective To determine the prevalence of olfactory dysfunctions, mainly, anosmia and to identify its associated factors in patients with COVID-19 infection. Study design A hospital-based prospective observational cohort study Setting A COVID dedicated hospital, Square Hospitals Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods We collected patients information including laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 test results. We used Pearson Chi-square test and logistic regression model to assess the associations between demographic and clinical characteristics and olfactory outcomes. Results Out of 600 COVID-19 positive patients, 38.7% were diagnosed with olfactory dysfunction. Our analyses showed that patients age, smoking status, cough, dyspnea, sore throat, asthenia, and nausea or vomiting were significantly associated with the anosmia. We observed the risk of developing anosmia was greater in younger patients than in older patients, and this risk decreased as age increased [odds ratio (OR) range for different age groups: 1.26 to 1.08]. Smoking patients were 1.73 times more likely to experience anosmia than non-smoking patients [OR=1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-2.98]. In addition, patients complained asthenia had a significantly double risk of developing the anosmia [OR = 1.96, CI = 1.23-3.06]. Conclusions Our study shows that about 39% of patients diagnosed with olfactory dysfunction. Patients age, smoking status, and asthenia are significantly positively associated with the anosmia. Since anosmia can be a significant marker for the diagnosis of COVID-19, we suggest regular screening of olfactory dysfunction in patients with early symptoms of COVID-19, particularly younger patients, smoker, and complained asthenia.