Health authorities in Bangladesh have reported five more deaths and 177 fresh cases from COvid-19 across the country in 24 hours till Saturday morning amid the entry of its new variant, Omicron.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate declined to 1.13 per cent from Friday’s 1.34 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The total fatalities mounted to 28,022 while the caseload mounted to 15,78, 996, with the number of fresh cases.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
All the five latest deceased were women and four of them were from Dhaka division while another from Chattogram division.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 15,632 samples.
Besides, the recovery rate decreased to 97.77 per cent with the recovery of 122 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On Thursday, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic is apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
However, some of the leading public health experts in Bangladesh have warned that the current trend of plummeting Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh could well be the obvious calm before a cataclysmic storm.
Their fears centre around children below 12 who remain out of the vaccine coverage and the elderly people.
These experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, sheer disregard for Covid-safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh — a trend many European countries are witnessing now.
Omicron enters Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Saturday reported the first two cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus.
“These two infected female patients (cricketers) returned from Zimbabwe recently,” ASM Alamgir, chief scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told UNB.
He said the Omicron patients are members of the Bangladesh Women’s Cricket Team and they do not have any severe symptoms.
However, the two female members of the cricket team have been kept in a hotel for isolation, he added.
The two cricketers tested positive for Covid-19 on December 6.
The women’s team recently returned home from Zimbabwe after confirming their participation in the next 50-over World Cup, which will be Bangladesh’s maiden World Cup appearance as well.
No new lockdown
On December 5, Health Minister Zahid Maleque ruled out any further Covid-induced lockdown in the country.
“The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is under control now and there’s no possibility to enforce any lockdown in the country,” he said.
