Coronavirus: Residents fear community spread while Tolarbag lockdown continues

Around 5,000 residents of Tolarbag area at Mirpur in the capital now fear the community transmission of the coronavirus as two people died in the last two days there.

At least 20 residents of the area claimed that the two people got infected with the Covid-19 from a local mosque. 

Nazmus Sakib Khan –  resident of "Darul Aman", the building where one of the deceased lived – told The Business Standard, "The two would pray together at the same mosque in Tolarbag where both might have been infected. And none of their family members came from abroad recently. So we suspect that they perhaps got infected while offering daily prayers."  

Photo: Mumit M

Residents of the North Tolarbag area have been maintaining self-quarantine and avoiding unnecessary street movements. The main gate of the residential area have been shut and no outsider was allowed there, as per police instructions. 

However, residents of the area now demand that everyone who has a high fever and other symptoms of corona will have to be tested as soon as possible.

Maria Khan, who lives in front of the Tolarbag building under quarantine, told The Business Standard, "Who knows who is carrying the virus or who is here. So, we urge the authorities to take samples from the residents of the North Tolarbag area immediately. That will decrease the chance of community spread."

Another resident Sartaj Alim said, "The crisis may deepen. So Tolarbag is the place where we need to contain the virus and fight it. It could be an example to those who are continuously violating quarantine procedures. We demand a checkup of everyone who had been in touch with the two victims." 

Sharing his experience of the last three days, another resident Abdur Rashid Akon said seven of his family members had been confined at home since Friday. "We have enough food and if we need more, one of us can go outside. We have just limited our movements for safety. There is no crisis here." 

On Sunday night, as a second person who tested positive for the coronavirus died in the area, the local mosque committee prohibited any resident to go to the mosque, saying, "Until the situation gets normal, the mosque committee has decided not to offer any congregational prayer. And the Muslim dwellers are suggested to offer their daily prayers at home."

Tolarbag House Owners' Association President Shuvashis Biswas told The Business Standard that after the second death within a day they got alerted and are trying to maintain an unofficial lockdown. 

"The local lawmaker Md Aslamul Haque announced that the lockdown would continue until the situation got better. He also assured us that the district administration would provide food and other necessary goods if we faced any shortage during the self-lockdown." 

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Mirpur Division Mahmuda Afroze said their patrol teams have been deployed to check if there is any public gathering. "If two or three people try to gather in any stall or any other area, we will disperse them."