COVID-19 in photos: The Daily Star’s documentation of a pandemic

#Perspective

Bangladesh, along with the rest of the world, is living through the strangest of times. It feels surreal to think of the 'new normal' — seems straight out of a sci-fi apocalypse movie! Nevertheless, to make sense of it all, journalists continue to bring the latest of the ongoing pandemic and to keep the world informed and updated.

The journalists of The Daily Star have also bravely taken this call to duty to heart, providing you the myriad dimensions of COVID-19.

A deserted part of Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover in the capital’s Jatrabari during a strict lockdown sometime in July, 2021. COVID-19 and lockdowns gave us unfamiliar scenes of empty streets in the otherwise traffic-choked Dhaka. Photo: Palash Khan

In this anniversary-special volume of The Daily Star, we humbly take this opportunity to look back and present to you some of our published photographs of the pandemic, from eerie scenes which would otherwise seem unreal, to heart-breaking visuals of anguish, to inspiring portrayals of COVID heroes.

We hope that these photographs will shed light on the extraordinary circumstances the world is in and bring an appreciation of the things we had always taken granted in the pre-pandemic world.

A policeman with his face buried in his arms sits at the tennis court of Jatiya Press Club after several hours of being on duty wearing PPE on Topkhana Road. In the scorching heat, one of his teammates fainted not long before. The photo was taken on 10 May, 2020. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Above all, we hope that these pictures will remind or reinforce the necessity of following COVID-19 health guidelines, so that we can survive through it together with grace and dignity towards to a better and brighter future.

LITTLE ONES SHOW THE WAY... A child washes her hands while another one waits for her turn inside the circle marked on the ground. This photo taken at Holy Cross Girls High School shows how children can follow the rules and health safety guidelines impeccably whereas some adults fail to do so. This scene from September of 2021 also portrays the reopening of schools after a long period of campus shutdown. Schools were however shut down again after a few months due to surging cases. Photo: Prabir Das

A man feeding stray dogs in front of Dhaka College. Some phases of the pandemic saw food sources for the animals become scarcer since people retreated from the streets and restaurants were shuttered; this scene was captured on 18 April, 2020. Photo: Amran Hossain

A notice placed in front of the emergency unit of Mugda Medical College and Hospital says all beds in the hospital dedicated to COVID-19 patients, including those needing ICU care, are occupied. The photo was snapped on 29 July, 2021, during a grim phase of the pandemic, when many hospitals were dealing with a rush of coronavirus patients. Photo: Anisur Rahman

THAT’S NOT A MASK, SIR... A fishmonger covers his face with his hands as an executive magistrate of Barishal District Administration running a mobile court conducted drives across the city to enforce mask-wearing to curb the rising number of COVID-19 cases. This photo was taken from the city’s Port Road area, on 31 March, 2021. Photo: Titu Das

Doctors clad in PPEs enter the Covid-19 unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The photo was snapped in mid-2020. Despite fears of infection, these doctors had been treating patients for around two months by then, staying at a city hospital far from home. Photo: Amran Hossain

Shahriar, who has COVID-19 symptoms, and his wife Poppy, wait in front of Shaheed Sheikh Abu Naser Specialised Hospital in Khulna city. They were waiting there for almost six hours before they left without treatment. Poppy said her husband got tested for coronavirus, but the result was yet to be out. And the hospital would not take any patient without the result. The photo was published in early July of 2021. Photo: Habibur Rahman

Note: The captions accompanying these photographs have been slightly tweaked from the original (previously published) ones in order to fit the purpose of this photo feature.