Though the coronavirus transmission has been surging alarmingly in the country, the government has no visible steps to contain the pace of outbreak of the deadly virus, BNP alleged on Tuesday.
“Corona infection is growing alarmingly. We saw an 18-point directive was issued yesterday (Monday), but the government has not taken any visible step to implement it,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
He made the remarks while speaking at a press conference at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
The BNP leader said there is a false campaign that the government is effectively tackling the Covid situation. “The fact is that they (govt) can’t control the virus, but they’re lying. The government should have a strong campaign and effective steps to enforce the 18-point directive, but it's missing.”
He accused the government of hiding the facts and data about the real Covid situation in the country and not conducting adequate tests to quickly identify the infected people.
“People are not getting adequate opportunities to undergo tests not only in Dhaka, but also elsewhere in Bangladesh. The government is fully responsible for this situation. They never realised the importance of creating a national unity to overcome the pandemic,” he observed.
Stating that using masks is essential to prevent the virus outbreak, the BNP leader said people are showing apathy to it as the government has failed to motivate them and create awareness among them in this regard through a mass campaign.
He said the government did not suspend different state programmes relating to the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman though the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) had warned of deterioration in Covid situation.
Fakhrul alleged that the government is not taking proper steps to get rid of the corona outbreak as it is not accountable to people. “This government is not elected by people’s votes. An unelected government can’t have any responsibility towards people.”
He said the government’s main target is now to ‘hang onto’ power by any means and ‘plunder’ public money.