China first identfied the novel corona virus (later named COVID-19) on 8 Jan. 2020 and declared its first death from COVID-19 on 11 Jan. 2020. Subsequently, on 30 Jan. 2020, WHO declared it as a Global Public Health Emergency. The first COVID-19 case in Bangladesh was confirmed on 8 Mar. 2020. Thus, Bangladesh got a valuable lead time of around 5 to 7 weeks to prepare the people and the health systems for the outbreak and the impending surge of patients. However, neither the MoHFW nor the political establishment was found to rise to the occasion and provide the necessary stewardship for coordinated response. There were fragmented, half-hearted, and ad-hoc approaches which created more problems than solutions. Uncertainty about the roles and responsibilities of the different agencies of the MoHFW and the government at large, lack of intraministerial (MoHFW) and inter-ministerial (Finance, labour, social security, law and order etc.) coordination, unwillingness to heed to the advices of the public health scientists and practitioners in the country, non-inclusion of the non-state sectors and poor service readiness of the public health facilities baffle any description. This chaotic and disoriented situation continued until 17 Mar. 2020 when things slowly started to move.