Ashraful Islam Ashraf
Health Minister Zahid Malek has warned everyone about the possible encroachment of the third wave of coronavirus. He said the second wave came in the country due to non-compliance with hygiene rules. Now everyone has to be careful not to be affected by the third wave. He said this while addressing a virtual discussion meeting on the occasion of National Nutrition Week on Thursday.
The minister said, “We wandered around in different places, did not wear masks, did not maintain social distance. As a result, we were hit by the second wave. Now we need to identify the cause. We have stopped any social events including weddings and birthdays to prevent the spread of corona. All kinds of meetings and gatherings have been restricted due to public discouragement. Tourist and recreation centers, including Corona’s place of origin, have been closed. All kinds of fairs and picnics including religious gatherings like mahfils are closed. In this way, it is expected that the rate of corona infection will come down after some time. But if we do the same thing again, then the third wave will come to the country again.”
“How much more treatment will we give, how many more beds will we have in the hospital. How much high flow nasal canola will we give, how much oxygen will we provide. Hospitals can no longer be expanded overnight. Hospital beds cannot be extended overnight. Even then we have increased from two and a half thousand beds to 6/7 thousand beds in this short time. We have also been able to handle ten times as many patients. But even then it will not be possible to increase. That is why we all need to be aware. We want to be protected from corona. Hopefully, we will go back to normal life, our life will be better. We need to have nutritious food”, he said.
Calling for more balanced food, Zahid Malek said, “We are urging to eat balanced food including vegetables and fruits during the nutrition week.” Eat less oil, sugar, salt. We want to give this message to people. He added that 10 percent people in our country still suffer from malnutrition. Lack of nutrition can lead to various diseases including diabetes. Although there is a deficit in nutrition, it is better than the neighboring countries. Even Bangladesh is in a good position in terms of nutrition than India.
Meanwhile, Director General (DG) of the Department of Health Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said the government has been working to ensure nutrition for all by 2040, but the epidemic has been delayed due to the coronavirus. If the situation is normal, we have to pay special attention to this.
