The Pandemic of Covid-19: Impacts on the MDG and SDG of Bangladesh

Abstract:

Figure 1: Depiction of the envelope structure of the Coronavirus with its spiky protrusions
resembling a crown.

Some mutated species of the Coronavirus family, which is commonly accepted as a disease agent
in animals, can also cause diseases in humans. We have witnessed examples of this as SARS in
2002 and MERS in 2011, both of them being severe lower respiratory tract infections. The
causative pathogen of the disease, which has become a pandemic (a worldwide epidemic) today,
is named the SARS-CoV2 virus, and the disease it causes is COVID-19. It causes serious lower
respiratory failure, as in previous examples, and may damage the central nervous system in the
early period, unlike the previous ones. [1]other members of the Coronavirus family, this virus has

1
Li YC, Bai WZ, Hashikawa T. The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2 may play a role in the respiratory
failure of COVID-19 patients. J Med Virol, Feb 20, 2020. Doi:10.1002/jmv.25728.
a sheath called the envelope in its fat structure, which has spiky protrusions of its protein structure
on its outer surface. Because it looks like a “crown” due to these spiky protrusions, it is referred
to as “corona”, meaning crown (figure). The spiky proteins of the SARS-CoV2 virus differ from
the SARS virus by 2% and provide much better adhesion to human cells. [2]The virus is a non-
living pathogen agent with its nucleic acid chain (a kind of helical amino acid chain that carries
genetic codes) in the envelope. The virus can replicate itself, cause damage, and spread only when
it infiltrates into another cell. For the SARS-Cov2 virus to infiltrate into cells, its envelope structure
must be strong. The virus becomes harmless as oil solvents such as soap or detergent damage the
envelope structure. It can remain infectious for only a few days if it cannot infiltrate into the cell
provided that its envelope structure is strong. The exposed virus is deformed over time and
becomes ineffective. When a sufficient number of SARS-CoV2 enters the human body, the
infection begins once the virus clings onto the surface epithelium (a skin-like but much thinner, a
single layer of cell covering the inner cavities of our body) and then infiltrates the cell. [3]

[4]What are the symptoms?

Common signs of infection include fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. In severe cases, it
can cause pneumonia, multiple organ failure and death.
The incubation period of COVID-19 is thought to be between one and 14 days. It is contagious
before symptoms appear, which is why so many people get infected.
Infected patients can be also asymptomatic, meaning they do not display any symptoms despite
having the virus in their systems.

2
Lv L, Li G, Chen J, Liang X, Li Y. Comparative genomic analysis revealed specific mutation pattern between
human coronavirus SARS-CoV2 and Bat-SARS-CoV Ratg13.
bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.27.969006

3
Frydman G. Lessons learned: The history, biology and pathophysiology of the current COVID-19 literature.
Department of surgery, MGH & Center for Biomedical Engineering Department of Biological Engineering,
MIT. March 11, 2020.
4
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/china-coronavirus-500-words-200127065154334.html
[5]Where did it come from?
China alerted the WHO to cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan on December 31.
COVID-19 is thought to have originated in a seafood market where wildlife was sold illegally.
On February 7, Chinese researchers said the virus could have spread from an infected animal to
humans through illegally trafficked pangolins, prized in Asia for food and medicine.
Scientists have pointed to either bats or snakes as possible sources.

Pandemic of Covid-19:
[6] The outbreak of the new coronavirus infection, COVID-19 was initiated from the Hunan seafood market
in Wuhan city of China in December 2019, and within a couple of months it has turned out to be a global
health emergency. Live animals like bat, frog, snake, bird, marmot and rabbit are frequently sold at the
Hunan seafood market (Wang et al., 2020b). Genomic analysis revealed that SARS-CoV-2 is
phylogenetically related to severe acute respiratory syndrome-like (SARS-like) bat viruses, bats could
therefore be the possible primary source. Although the intermediate source of origin and transfer to humans
is not clearly known, the rapid human to human spreading capability of this virus has been established. As
per the latest update of WHO on 18 April 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 had spread in more than 200

5
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/china-coronavirus-500-words-200127065154334.html
6
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720323998
countries. Approximately 146,198 people had died after contracting the respiratory virus out of nearly
2,164,111 confirmed cases, whereas more than 402,989 people have recovered from the disease. These
numbers are changing rapidly. The detailed up-to-date information about COVID-19, is available in the
WHO website at https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019. Daily infection of
COVID-19 has been steadily raising worldwide (Fig. 1).

[6]
Fig. 1. The comparative study of COVID-19 cases of different countries.

[6]
Fig. 2. Current distribution of COVID-19 in different countries.
 Pandemic of Covid-19 in Bangladesh:

The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus

disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-
CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. The first three
known cases were reported on 8 March 2020 by the country's epidemiology institute, IEDCR.
Since then, the pandemic has spread day by day over the whole nation and the number of affected
people has been increasing.
In order to protect the population, the government declared "lockdown" throughout the nation from
23 March to 30 May and prepared some necessary steps to spread awareness to keep this syndrome
away from them.[7] Infections remained low until the end of March but saw a steep rise in April.[8]
In the week ending on 11 April, new cases in Bangladesh grew by 1,155 percent, the highest in
Asia, ahead of Indonesia, with 186 percent.[9]On 6 May, cases were confirmed in all
districts. Rangamati was the last district to report confirmed cases of COVID-19. On 13 June, the
number of cases in Bangladesh exceeded the number of cases in China, the country where the
outbreak began. Bangladesh reached two grim milestones of 160,000 cases and 2,000 deaths on 5
July and overtook France in terms of the number of cases two days later. The number of recoveries
in the country exceeded the number of active cases on 12 July.

7
"Bangladesh confirms its first three cases of coronavirus". Reuters. 8 March 2020. Archived from the
original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
8
20-fold rise in Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh since April 1 Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback
Machine, Dhaka Tribune, 14 April 2020.

9
Mint Covid Tracker: India’s corona trajectory has tapered this week but still remains steeper than Asian
peers Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine, livemint, 11 April 2020.
 Current Situation of Covid-19 in Bangladesh

Currently, there are very few cases of Corvid’s cases being found at the moment of commencement.
This was only possible because the following instructions of the WHO and the government were properly
accepted by the people.
Bangladesh recorded the lowest number of daily new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, compared to that of the
past two weeks.
However, the lowest number of samples were also tested -- in a 24-hour span – on the same day in
comparison to the past few days.
In last 2 weeks, Bangladesh records lowest new cases. [10]

10
https://www.dhakatribune.com/health/coronavirus/2020/07/03/covid-19-bangladesh-records-42-deaths-3-114-
new-cases-in-24-hours
 The Impact of Covid-19 on Bangladesh

The COVID–19 outbreak has significantly impacted infrastructure development and the global economy.
International response to the rapid disruption to key infrastructure sectors and industries is ongoing.We
have reasons to fear it may take years to overcome the socio-economic losses caused by the Covid-19
outbreak. Bangladesh's successes in attaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and graduating to
developing country have been recognized globally. The country was on track to achieve targets of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But after the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, its development
journey might not be smooth.
Maybe before the discussion, we need to discuss about MDG and SDG.

Millennium Development Goals (MDG)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the
year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in
2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) succeeded the MDGs in 2016. All 191 United Nations member states,
and at least 22 international organizations, committed to help achieve the following Millennium
Development Goals by 2015:
The Millennium Development Goals are a UN initiative. [11]
[1] To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
[2] To achieve universal primary education.
[3] To promote gender equality and empower women.
[4] To reduce child mortality.
[5] To improve maternal health.
[6] To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
[7] To ensure environmental sustainability.
[8] To develop a global partnership for development.

11
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals#:~:text=The%20Millennium%20Developmen
t%20Goals%20(MDGs,eradicate%20extreme%20poverty%20and%20hunger
 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):

The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by
the year 2030, are part of UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda. [12]
The Sustainable Development Goals are:
[1] No Poverty.
[2] Zero Hunger.
[3] Good Health and Well-being.
[4] Quality Education.
[5] Gender Equality.
[6] Clean Water and Sanitation.
[7] Affordable and Clean Energy.
[8] Decent Work and Economic Growth.

12
Link: https://www.scribd.com/document/456904381/Assignment
[9] Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
[10] Reducing Inequality.
[11] Sustainable Cities and Communities.
[12] Responsible Consumption and Production.
[13] Climate Action.
[14] Life Below Water.
[15] Life on Land.
[16] Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.
[17] Partnerships for the Goals.

Impact of COVID-19 on the SDGs Goals:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by
all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the
planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030 13. There are 17 SDGs, all
are integrated, meaning that action in one concern will affect outcomes in others, reminding us
that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. These goals are
based on the pledge, “Leave No One Behind”, making the countries that are least developed and
under-developed to get the priorities first, ensuring several life-changing “zero”, such as zero
poverty, hunger, discrimination, etc. These goals are what the entire world is aiming for, and these
17 goals have become a sort of litmus test for global standard of living and development. And to
some extent, the world is striving its way to reach these set goals by the UNDP, bringing concerns
of gender discrimination, poverty, sustainable development in economy, etc. on the forefront of
global concerns. That is, until the Corona virus became a pandemic earlier in the year 2020.
Suddenly, the economy began to collapse, giving way to a global recession, rise in unemployment,
loss of jobs, shutting down of industries, stopping global supply chains, and halting trade and
commerce. Gender discrimination is on the rise as headlines of gender violence and degradation
began to plague the news and social media. Educational institutions all over the world closed down
temporarily, poverty became an alarming siren for doom for several social 1 Sustainable
Development Goals | UNDP. (2020). Retrieved 8 July 2020, from
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html classes, and

13 1 Sustainable Development Goals | UNDP. (2020). Retrieved 8 July 2020, from

https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html
public health has become a luxury most people can barely afford. And these are just some of the
major impacts of Covid-19 on a global scale.

Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty:

A new International Labor Organization (ILO) report projects that almost 25 million jobs could be
lost worldwide and workers could lose some US$3.4 trillion [14] in income by year's end. Workers
in the informal economy do not have the luxury of staying at home without paid sick leave. People
living in or near poverty lack cash to easily stockpile food, or to seek treatment.

Mere survival has become a challenge for those reliant on daily incomes, and those living in urban
slums or remote areas. There are thousands who were never classified as being under the poverty
line, such as barbers and rickshaw-pullers, who are now struggling to live day to day. Then there

14
Link: https://tbsnews.net/analysis/coronavirus-pandemic-may-leave-sdg-targets-disarray-59971
are several thousand blue collar workers in the lower to middle class who may not be able to return to
their jobs in the immediate future. Many from these socio-income groups will very soon get affected and
become tomorrow's poor.

Impact of COVID-19 on Economy:

The impact of the pandemic on the economy has been severe. There is a little data now available
for the first three months from March-May 2020, but this is limited. It will be a long time before
there will be sufficient data to describe what happened in detail.
When Covid-19 struck Bangladesh, the immediate response was to shut down the economy to
protect people by achieving some kind of isolation. Most countries had reacted in much the same
way, so the world economy partially shut down.
Three immediate impacts on Bangladesh
Export industries, particularly the garments and textile sectors, shut down reducing production; at
the same time, there was widespread cancellation of orders from buyers who did not know when
their stores would open and who cancelled purchases to try to preserve cash.
The oil price collapsed and the economies in the Gulf States partially shut down. In Bangladesh,
this led to fear of a drop in the value of remittances. In fact, exports in April and May 2020 were
only 29% of the same two months in 2019. Remittances for the same period were 82% of the value
in 2019.
Our estimate is that exports for the remainder of 2020 will reach 55-60% of the 2019 level for the
seven months of June-December. This is based on the low order books, the uncertainties in the
recovery of the European and North American economies, and the lack of clear guidance from the
buyers.
Projecting remittances is more difficult; our estimate is 70-80% for the seven months of 2020
compared to the same period for 2019. Further difficulties arise from the uncertainty in the changes
in the flow of remittances through the hundi system. The third impact of the rest of the world is
the inflow of capital from abroad.
 Impact of COVID-19 on Education:
As of 1 June 2020, globally, 1.2 billion learners (68.0 per cent of the world's total enrolled learners)
were affected due to the education institute closure in 144 countries, according to UNESCO data.
Bangladesh is no different. Since 17 March, all the educational institutes in the country have
remained closed. Undeniably, the direct and most immediate impact of the Covid-19 on the
education sector is the loss in learning opportunities. More than 36.0 million students (including
17.0 million in the primary) are now out of school. Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, in his
budget speech in the national parliament on Thursday, also said that Covid-19 has essentially
caused discontinuation of the regular academic curriculum of around 40.0 million students across
the country.

How Achieving SDGs Can Play a Role in Bangladesh’s Fight

Against Covid-19:

Bangladesh is also heavily affected by the coronavirus crisis. Due to the lockdown, people working
in the informal sector and day laborers are vastly affected. Many people have already lost their
jobs and others lost their opportunities to work. Rickshaw pullers, construction workers,
salespersons, hawkers, etc are sitting at home with zero income and hunger. If the current situation
prolongs, many people will be pushed back to poverty.
RMG sector, which accounts for 84.2% of total export earnings and employs around 4 million
people has been hit by the crisis as global demand falls. According to BGMEA, $3.17 billion worth
of RMG orders is canceled or suspended, affecting 2.27 million workers (Basher and Pooja, 2020).
Export earnings have also decreased by 85% compared to April 2019 (The Financial Express,
2020).

RMG sector lost 3.17 billion worth of orders.

Export Earnings fall by 85%
 World Bank and IMF predicted only 2% GDP growth in 2020.

Day Labors and low to middle income people are at risk to enter into Poverty.
Bangladesh’s economy was growing at a steady pace, according to a New Vision Solutions
Limited report, “Bangladesh has been achieving more than 7 percent growth constantly for the last
few years and last year the country recorded an 8.15% GDP growth while it’s per capita income
increased to $1,906” (Ahamed, 2020). According to World Bank and IMF, Bangladesh will lose
its pace of growth and likely to achieve only 2% growth in 2020.
Currently, students are sitting at home, away and deprived of education. Industries are facing heavy
losses with zero revenue and high operating expenses.
All these indicators are directly or indirectly attached to SDGs and focusing on achieving the goals
can help us to fight against the impact of COVID-19.

Now what should do:

Firstly, we must act speedily, and always maintain transparency and accuracy of information. This
is crucial as crises tend to shake citizens' confidence, and ensuring their trust is critical for an
effective campaign.
The highest attention should be given to the population segments most disproportionately affected.
Alongside this, building a resilient private sector, especially small businesses, can help ensure a
swifter and more sustainable economic recovery.
To stop poverty from grappling Bangladesh, we need plans for immediate recovery that will feed
into longer-term plans. But such plans have never been drawn up before; there are no ready-made
solutions. While the government will need to bring well-resourced programmers and policies for
accelerated recovery into the five-year planning frame, United Nations with UNDP as the overall
technical lead is also offering support to all affected countries.
UNDP has been a longstanding partner of Bangladesh in various key areas of development, from
addressing urban poverty to climate change to the Rohingya refugee crisis. Our work here has
helped take Bangladesh forward in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but now,
we must rethink our approach in achieving them within the 2030 target. In fact, the SDGs are more
important now than ever—social discrimination and inequality is on the rise, making SDG-10 a
top priority. Meanwhile, this crisis and the subsequent shutdown has shown the importance of
letting nature into our lives, to allow it to heal, increasing the priority of environmental and
conservational goals.
Along with the wider UN system, UNDP with generous support from UK-DFID, USAID, Swedish
SIDA, DANIDA, Australian DFAT, the EU, Canadian GAC, philanthropic foundations and
several private sector partners is already working to support the poor across Bangladesh, while
also trying to better priorities response and recovery, and learning new lessons.
Turning to Bangladesh, after the hiatus period forced by Covid-19 ends, the Prime Minister's SDG
Directorate needs to evaluate two key metrics: the impact of the pandemic on the poor and the
status of SDGs. All economic crises adversely affect the poor and the present crisis is no exception.
From all accounts, the short-run impact of the pandemic and the lockdown is being felt very
strongly by low-income people. In line with its SDG commitment, the government's immediate
goal ought to be to facilitate the re-employment of workers (SDG8), feed those who lost their
sources of income (SDG2) and strengthen healthcare and provide medical support (SDG3).
the process of recovery might strengthen our SDG efforts if the government of Bangladesh, in
collaboration with civil society, NGOs, and the private sector, look afresh at the 17 goals and
focuses its attention and resources on those that need reinforcement.

At the End, we won in 1971 against our enemy by standing shoulder to shoulder. Fighting
coronavirus is also a war and in this war, your responsibility is to stay home. Inshallah, we’ll win
the war with everyone’s efforts.