The way coronavirus outbreak is claiming more lives throughout the world infecting people now close to one million. In Bangladesh, at this moment it is important to become cautions rather than give in to the panic. According to a report of this newspaper yesterday, coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 30,000 in Europe alone, a global tally showed on Wednesday, in what the head of the United Nations has described as humanity's worst crisis since World War 2.

Some 41,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide from more than 830,000 infections since the pandemic erupted in China in December. Italy and Spain bore the brunt of the contagion. More than 5,000 people died due to COVID-19 in the US.

In Bangladesh 56 people have been infected with coronavirus and six died. The coronavirus situation is under control in our country due to the lockdown and some other measures taken by the government. The virus spreads rapidly due to closeness. Only social distancing can check the spread of the infection.

But worryingly social distancing is not being maintained strictly. There are millions of people who lead a hand-to-mouth existence. How long can they survive without any income-generating activities? The lockdown has put every sector to a standstill. Only the situation will determine how long this unprecedented state will linger. The people of the marginalised sections are the worst affected. They are more afraid of starvation than coronavirus pandemic.

The government and the affluent people of the country should extend all possible help for the needy ones. The labs for testing coronavirus infection are inadequate in the country. This setback should be addressed immediately. It is heartening that some labs have been established for testing coronavirus. The situation warrants setting up of more such labs.

During the crisis situation, some dishonest people are engaged in making fortunes out of human misery. Media reports have projected some incidents of playing dirty games in the name of distribution of rice allocated by the government. These people should be brought under justice.

There are also incidents of brutal behaviour meted out to people forced to come out of their shanties to collect some food items to quell their hunger. This is very unfortunate. They deserve to get compassion in their times of woes.