You always talk about going with the science.
Science can do very little to save anyone from the virus - maybe 1-2% of those infected at most will be saved by good medical care. Mostly it is the immune system that saves infected people.
What will save people according to science:
1. Social distancing, masks and hygiene
2. Heat and humidity
3. Being thin
4. Young age
BD scores well on 3 of those metrics.
Virus has been spreading exponentially since 4-5 weeks ago as the lockdown virtually broke down by then and still no mass deaths like in other countries. It is already June and so when is BD going to see them then?
You see BD just happens to be in a fortunate climatic, affluence(lack of it) and demographic position against this virus and so it is riding it relatively unscathed.
You're both missing out on science.
While I agree with UKBengali's point about Bangladeshis being young and thin, this to be quite honest does very little for us.
Most people dying in Bangladesh are older people over 50, and they're all dying because of one reason we're overlooking; Comorbidities.
Essentially, what it means is that multiple health condition are building up on the damage done by each other to adversely affect the patient.
People in Bangladesh, have very very poor health, diabetes is prevalent among the older sections of our society as are a host other serious health conditions. Covid - 19 is killing a large number of people by just exacerbating their existing health conditions.
And this is not only restricted to old people, Bangladeshis generally are of poor health irrespective of age. There is no concept of fitness among our masses, people don't choose to be thin, that's just a consequence of them being poor.
Almost every Bangladeshi male over the age of 35 has a tummy that protrudes beyond the normal range.
Given our poor healthcare system, I think it'd be realistic to say neither a young population nor a thin population will be able to minimise the impending chaos that is coming our way.
Bangladesh has a lot to do when it comes to raising the quality of healthcare provided, make its average citizen healthier and to instill in people through programs the importance of eating a healthy balanced diet and staying fit.
The Covid - 19 has gone out of hand, and there's nothing to be done about it. We can only wait for it to dissipate in due course of time.
However, the government must take a few steps now to address this going forward, namely :
x - Increase expenditure on public healthcare
x - Improve the quality of healthcare provided
x - Establish a nationwide network of ICUs and CCUs with top of the line equipment
x - Encourage healthy lifestyle and eating habits by organising a large scale public awareness campaign, similar in scale to their campaign promoting family planning.
x - Bump the budget for the education system, because no matter in which facet of Bangladesh society to care to look into, all our problems could be solved with better education.
These are all in the long term, the only think we can do in relation to the Covid - 19 crisis is to follow government guidelines religiously and to keep our wits about us.