The First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences from Bangladesh

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic COVID-19 is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has wreaked havoc globally by affecting millions of lives. Although different countries found the implementation of emergency measures useful to combat the viral pandemic (first wave), many countries are now experiencing the resurgence of COVID-19 even after following strict containment guidelines (second wave). Country-specific lessons learned from the first wave of infection appeared to be useful in the successful battle of possible second wave outbreak. In this article, we examined the situation in Bangladesh during the first wave COVID-19 outbreak and discussed the demographic, political, economic, social and environmental influences on the mitigation strategies employed by the country to combat the pandemic. We also tried to explore the preparedness and precautionary measures taken by responsible authorities, choice of strategies implemented and effectiveness of response from government and relevant agencies. Finally, we discussed the possible strategies that might help Bangladesh survive a second wave outbreak based on the experiences from the first wave of the ongoing pandemic.