Health workers are vital to defeat COVID-19: but only if they are at work

The ready-made garments (RMG) sector is by far the most important contributor to the economy of the country, amounting to 15 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employing nearly four million people. There is no denying that the main driving force behind the RMG sector is the vast quantity of workers that it employs.

Public health measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 have caused massive shocks to the global economy and all aspects of human lives. The pandemic is disproportionately affecting the youths, particularly in countries like Bangladesh where youths already struggle in the labour market because of limited experience and skills and with poor quality of education (World Bank, 2019).

The health shocks brought on by the spread of COVID-19, coupled with the economic crisis wrought by global lockdown measures, have had an immediate and severe impact on the state of extreme poverty. The scale of the crisis means widening numbers of people are experiencing vulnerability and financial insecurity, and risk falling further into the trap of extreme poverty.

Like other economic players, the novel pandemic severely hit small businesses—the larger source of growth and employment but also the most vulnerable sector—by disrupting national and international business networks, supply chain, and demand.

COVID-19 is forcing us to discover alternative ways of doing things; qualitative field research, which traditionally calls for close interaction between researchers and their populations of interest, had to be reimagined to satisfy the need for social distancing, a preventative measure against the virus.