The government asks deputy commissioners (DCs) to punish violators of its 11-point directives on containment of a latest wave of Covid-19 transmission in Bangladesh as daily caseload overshot 10,000 mark Thursday.
As part of urgent dos and don'ts it also directed the district administrators across the country to take "effective steps as quickly as possible" to shut all kinds of social and religious gatherings.
The instructions were given on the day when the country recorded 10,888 new cases with four deaths in the last 24 hours till Thursday morning, in the wake of cluster transmission of the virus that prompted the health administration to mark a dozen frontier districts as 'red zones'.
The latest daily tally of infections happens to be the highest since August 10, 2021 when 11,164 people were reported infected. In the previous 24 hours, the number of infections was 9,500.
According to the Director- General of Health Services (DGHS), the latest number of confirmed cases comes after the screening of 41,292 samples in 857 labs across the country. And the infection rate also stood higher at 26.37 per cent from Thursday's 25.11 per cent.
With the latest data, the entire tally of coronavirus-related fatalities rose to 28,180 while the total caseload stood at 1,653,182.
Like on other days, Dhaka emerged as the worst-hit area in terms of infections and fatalities. The capital alone logged 7,379 new cases out of the country total of 10,888.
During the same period of time, 577 people recovered from the viral infections across the country. It took the total number of recoveries to 1,554,845.
The country reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 last year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 last year.
On the 3rd day of the ongoing DC conference, the minister of health and family welfare raised the coronavirus issue amid the highly contagious Omicron invasion.
Talking to reporters after the meeting was over, health minister Zahid Maleque said they asked the DCs to punish violators of the cabinet division's latest instructions to help control the coronavirus situation.
"They (DCs) have to respond very quickly, but cautiously, in coordination with people's representatives as the infections keep climbing alarmingly," he says about the urgency of preventive action.
They also called upon the deputy commissioners to intensify their vigilance on the screening activities at seaports, land ports and airports and quarantine regulations there.
Meanwhile, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 has suggested curtailing the self-isolation period for people showing symptoms of the viral disease to 10 days from two weeks.
It says people do not need to stay quarantined even after having been in close contact with a Covid patient if they are symptom-free.
The panel of medical experts made the recommendations in a meeting on Wednesday, amid an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases in Bangladesh and in many parts of the world.
"Those who have been in contact with Covid patients need not isolate themselves, but they must wear tightfit masks," says the panel in a press release signed by its president Prof Mohammad Shahidullah.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com