The cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 have jumped to 106 in Bangladesh, with 37 more infections being detected till Sunday, according to GISAID, a primary source that provides open access to genomic data of Coronavirus.
The latest cases were detected at the lab of PRAVA Health that was later submitted by Genomic Research Lab of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR).
On January 23, five more cases were found to be Omicron positive, pushing the tally of the new Coronavirus variant, through highly time-consuming and scarcely available genomic sequencing, to 69.
Bangladesh reported its first two Omicron cases on December 11 last year in two members of the Bangladesh women's cricket team that had been forced to return early from the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, deep in southern Africa, where the most transmissible variant of SARS-CoV-2 till now is believed to have originated.
Omicron is gradually replacing Delta through community transmission in Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said on January 21, reports UNB.
The variant is spreading at the community level, and its symptoms have similarities with that of seasonal flu, DGHS spokesperson Dr Md Nazmul Islam said.