Cattle Markets: A Big Challenge for BD to Curb Virus Spread

Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Bangladesh in three weeks.

In the meantime, efforts have been made to set up sacrificial animal markets in different parts of the country.

However, the National Advisory Committee (made up of specialist doctors from Bangladesh) on COVID-19 has strongly advised not to set up any kind of cattle market in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj and Gazipur.

On the other hand, those who have been raising cows ahead of Eid-ul-Adha for so long in different parts of the country are fearing huge financial losses.

There is a risk of infection on the one hand if you set up an animal market, and financial loss if you do not set up a market on the other hand.

A trader named Anwar Hossain of Munshiganj used to come to the Dhaka market every year with five to seven cows before eid.

But this time, he has no idea what will happen. Mr. Hossain will face huge financial loss if he cannot sell the cows in the market in Dhaka.

He said if you sell cows at Dhaka and Narayanganj markets, you can get good prices.

The National Advisory Committee says the level of infection in Bangladesh has remained the same for more than a month. Neither increasing nor decreasing again.

If this situation continues, the rate of infection may come down in the next one month, the advisory committee said.

But that possibility could be thwarted if sacrificial animal markets were set up in densely populated cities, including Dhaka and Chittagong.

Prof. Md. Shahidullah, President of the National Advisory Committee, said that they have recommended that cattle markets should not be set up in the four cities.

Professor Shahidullah said, "Dhaka, Chittagong, Gazipur and Narayanganj are among the four places in Bangladesh where the rate of infection is much higher. If there is no market in these four places this year, our risk of infection will decrease."

Professor Shahidullah said that even if there are cattle markets outside Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj and Gazipur, everyone should be forced to abide by strict rules.

"Traders have to sit far apart in the open field. There has to only one gate to enter, and another one gate just to get out. Face masks are mandatory. A system has to be put in place so that no one can enter without a face mask," he said.

Professor Shahidullah mentioned that those over the age of fifty should ensure that they do not go to the cattle market.

In the case of four cities, including Dhaka, where the advisory committee is objecting, the city corporations, which are under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, decide to set up huts in those places.

Minister of Local Government Tajul Islam said he was not yet aware of the National Committee's advice.

However, thinking about the pandemic, the ministry is in favor of limiting the market. said the local government minister.

"We're also encouraging people not to set up stalls. We're looking at buying and selling online as an alternative," Tajul Islams aid.

In the last one and a half months in Bangladesh, it has been found that 22 to 23 percent of those being tested have coronavirus infection.

Experts fear that if their advice on the sacrificial market is ignored, it will be difficult to say where the level of infection will go.

Source: BBC

Translator: Apurbo Roy