Bangladesh poor, Rohingya refugees most at risk from COVID-19

Country's health system already struggling before coronavirus

Letter to the editor

April 29, 2020 14:30 JST

Rickshaw pullers in Dhaka, most of whom are sole providers for their families, are suffering as the number of passengers declines sharply, pictured on Apr. 20. © LightRocket/Getty Images

From Mohammad Jahidul Hasan, M.Pharm., clinical pharmacist, Square Hospitals, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh confirmed its first COVID-19 case on March 8 and its first COVID-19 death on March 18. On March 26, a countrywide lockdown came into force and its noisy cities became eerily silent. Since then, Bangladesh's poor and extremely poor have started to face new challenges with new government policies because they cannot now work and have no funds to support themselves.