A tale of some first coronavirus victims -Ifrith Islam

“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing, memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.” English Poet TS Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land” best rhymes with the coronavirus-ravaged world as its inhabitants died in April. Bangladesh is no exception to this. April turns into the cruelest month for doctor Moin Uddin, banker Muztaba Shahriar, journalist Humayun Kabir Khokon and constable Jashim Uddin who became first victims of coronavirus from four professions. All these professionals were engaged in serving the people in need.
With little or no personal protective equipment, he epitomized the inexperienced and unprepared coronavirus fighter. But Main Uddin, Assistant Professor of Medicine Sylhet Osmani Medical College who died of coronavirus on April 15, wasn’t a levelheaded rather he was a physician, father, and philanthropist.
Dr Moin, a ‘physician of the poor’ in his Nadampur village of Satak Upazila in Sunamganj, could have managed one of the small number of PPE sent for doctors in his hospital but he sacrificed them for his juniors. He left nothing for him and went on treating coronavirus-infected patients for days and nights both in his hospital as well as his personal chamber. At one stage, he himself tested positive for COVID-19.
Media reported that an air-lifting for Dr Moin was applied but a helpful-to-all doctor was denied.
So his helpless wife Dr Rifat and his colleagues managed a private ambulance to shift the 22nd BCS recruit to the capital as he was struggling to breathe and desperately in need of ventilation.
Finally, he died at Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka, leaving his colleagues, son, daughter, thousands of his service-recipients, friends and sympathisers to mourn for Dr Moin, who became the first physician of the country to die of coronavirus infection.
Bankers come directly in contact with customers who come to the bank for financial transactions and other services who risked contacting coronavirus. After Dr Moin, banker Muztaba Shahriar contacted the deadly virus.
This 40-year-old City Bank Ltd professional, 26th April died of Covid-19 becoming first among bankers in the country who died at Dhaka’s Mugda Medical College and Hospital.
According to media reports, Shahriar was suffering from high fever for a few days, underwent coronavirus testing twice upon advised by his relatives who were doctors. However, the results came back negative.
He was taking medicine for urine infection on doctor’s advice.
Shahriar later was taken to Mugda Medical College and Hospital for further checkup after his condition deteriorated on 25th April, when he was advised to get admitted immediately.
Like physicians, bankers, journalists have to work with people who are their sources. Dainik Somoyer Alo city editor and chief reporter Humayun Kabir Khokon, who died of COVID-19 on April 26 at Regent Hospital of Uttara in Dhaka, becoming the first victim among the journalists.
Forty-seven-year- old Humayun is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Regent Hospital public relations officer Tarique Shibli said, ‘He was admitted to our hospital at about 7:00pm in an unconscious state and was declared dead at about 9:45pm.’
He said that Humayun’s swab samples were collected by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research for coronavirus test after the hospital informed the institute about the patient with COVID-19 symptoms.
Bangladesh witnessed the first death of a police staff of COVID-19
Bangladesh witnessed the first death of a police staff of COVID-19 in the capital city of Dhaka on April 29 while the infection was confirmed a day after his demise.
The death of 40-year-old Jashim Uddin was confirmed by the police headquarters in a statement on Wednesday.
He was posted at a police box under Wari Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police as a constable. His sample was collected for COVID-19 test on April 25 after he suffered from fever.
Since then, he was in quarantine and his sample was sent to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.
Next night, Jashim Uddin’s condition deteriorated and he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he died at about 10:00pm.
Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research on Wednesday confirmed that he was infected with the novel coronavirus, the police headquarters said adding that the Bangladesh Police expressed deep condolence over his death.
The police also said that they would send the body to Cumilla, on their own arrangement, where his funeral would be held.
Jashim Uddin was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.
Among the COVID-19 first victim professionals in Bangladesh there a lot many who are dying reported or unreported. Jails have started witnessing deaths. Yasin is the first coronavirus victim to die in prison. It is believed that he came in contact with coronavirus while he was guarding inmates at Dhaka’s one of most crowded hospitals.
The 28-year-old, Mohammad Yasin, is the first prison guard with Covid-19 in jail. Yasin’s all four roommates have been sent to home quarantined as soon as he was found out by the doctors.
Dozens of prisoners have already been quarantined for coronavirus symptoms. Since novel corona is highly contagious, the country’s 68 prisons have 90000 inmates which is more than double the overall capacity, according to the government data.
The first inmate was dead due to COVID-19 at Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital in Sylhet while undergoing the treatment.
The prisoner was found positive for coronavirus and was immediately isolated from other inmates. He was imprisoned for killing.
COVID-19 pandemic commenced to spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. Even though it stayed low till the end of March and then the curve started to rise up steeply in April.
At the end of the first week of April, Bangladesh became the first country with a massive amount of COVID-19 cases at hand in the whole Asia.
It was declared that every place starting from educational institutions- business sectors such as restaurants, vendors, small markets to large shopping malls, broker houses to banks for the first ten days.
Then the contagious novel coronavirus showed people that it is very deadly to people who are not cautious and not fighting against it by taking every way possible.
This fatal pandemic spread its wings fully from the very start in December 2019. China reported to the World Health Organisation that people were dying due to respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
Since Bangladesh is a densely populated country, it is facing significant challenges in battling against Covid-19. It also hosts millions of Rohingya refugees in the refugee camps like active virus bombs that can explode and can conduct epidemics within a very short period of time.
People are becoming more and more agitated staying indoors. As a developing country, the poor can not stay put to put up with the pandemic while they die from starvation. But remembering the people who died coming in contact with others coronavirus careers, people should stay safe, stay neat and clean, stay sound, keep personal distance and stay close to Allah who created the humanity, following his scripture.