Perception of COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Interplays of Class and Capital

Abstract

This article delineates the lay perceptions of COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. More specifically, it discusses how people interpret the origin and transmission of COVID-19. Like the other countries of the world, this virus appeared as a new phenomenon in Bangladesh and is now known as coronarog. The transmission of this virus added new terms such as lockdown, quarantine, isolation, et cetera, to the popular discourse and produced a new experience. The high rates of infection and death caused by the virus have percolated fear and anxiety among people. Excessive fear about the disease has led to the stigmatisation of the disease and the infected. Drawing on observation, media reports and qualitative interviews, this article argues that laypeople use either a personalistic or a naturalistic explanation to make sense of the disease. Their explanations are associated with their access to different types of capital. This article contributes to medical anthropology literature on health and illness by explaining the cultural model of illness classification related to COVID-19.