The Pandemic in Bangladesh
An International Student at Rutgers Navigates the COVID Landscape in Two Worlds
Waseka Shahid Asmita is a senior at Rutgers University. What they call an international student. Lives in Bangladesh, but has been in the states for most of the pandemic. // She was on campus when the pandemic was declared. When Rutgers shuttered its New Brunswick campus in March 2020 and went virtual. “Kind of trapped” is how she describes it. She lives off campus, but her roommates and most international students went home. // “I was by myself the whole time,” she says. Just one friend who’d visit occasionally. Calls it a struggle. Being alone. Worrying about classes. Her parents. “I didn't know what the situation was in Bangladesh.” // Bangladesh is a nation of more than 163 million. Nearly half the size of the United States. It is extremely poor and has struggled historically with extreme weather and flooding. The government reports that 617,764 have contracted the virus and 9,105 have died. But critics say the numbers are likely higher. // Asmita says the data is incomplete. Improperly collected. There is a lack of testing. // “There's this taboo back home,” she says. People don’t discuss it. “Still the numbers were still pretty high.” // And growing higher. Al Jazeera reports that “Bangladesh sees record high daily coronavirus cases amid surge.” New restrictions to be imposed. // Numbers across the developing world are low. Plagued by poverty. Authoritarian governments. Violence. Taboos. The numbers are low. Likely inaccurate. // Class and race play a big role in Bangladesh. The country is mired in poverty. Few live stable economic lives. Health care is badly distributed. // The country, writes Ali Riaz, underestimated the severity of the coronavirus. “Was ill-prepared before it hit the country.” Infections grew. Public health was overwhelmed. Testing, he says, “was kept intentionally low to portray low case numbers.” // Asmita sees the disparity. She attends school in the United States. Has access that others might not. // “Everything's accessible as long as you're privileged, compared to other people,” she says. Her parents were vaccinated. She expects to get vaccinated before returning to Rutgers. // Just 3.3 doses have been administered per 100 people, according to The New York Times tracker, among the lower figures in the world. // “People who have more power or more money ... are the ones who are getting it,” she says. “The system's kind of broken.” // She has avoided COVID. Stayed in New Brunswick for months at her dad’s urging. He feared her getting the virus while traveling. Getting sick. Bringing it home. // “A flight from here to back home is 24 hours or more,” she says. “So, he just thought it was risky.” // Nine months passed. She went home for a few weeks during Winter Break. Traveled against last month. Is in Bangladesh now. // She flew back through Qatar. Thirty-plus hours of travel. Had a PCR test before leaving the States. Had symptoms when she arrived home. Was “feeling bad.” Didn’t want to put her parents at risk. Isolated. Four days in a government-run “quarantine camp.” More low-budget hotel than camp. Her choice. Quarantine is not required for most flights. // Her family has been extra cautious, she says. Still, her dad contracted COVID over the winter. Isolated at home. The rest of the family stayed in a hotel. // He worked throughout the pandemic, except when he was sick. His job cold not be done from home. Like so many in Bangladesh So many have been force to choose, she says, “Not make money and die, or go to work get COVID and die.” This was despite lockdowns and orders from the government. // Her dad was cautious, but many are not. “He’s wearing his mask, but he's in contact with people that he doesn't fully know what their situation is.” // He would come home from work and sanitize himself, she says. Avoids contact. He recovered. Is back at work. Asmita is still in Bangladesh. Will return to the States for graduation. Hopeful but realistic. //