Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque has said the omicron variant is responsible for nearly 69 per cent of new COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh.
The discovery was made after testing samples from new coronavirus patients in Dhaka, Maleque told the media at the secretariat on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
“Genome sequencing of the samples we collected in Dhaka showed that 69 per cent of them were infected by the omicron variant,” he said. “This used to be as low as 13 per cent. We found this in the past 10 days. We believe the rate will be similar outside Dhaka as well.”
Last Wednesday, Zahid Maleque had said that ’15-20 per cent’ of new Covid-19 cases were of the omicron variant. That was also the first day a case of the omicron variant was found outside Dhaka.
The government is concerned that the caseload is growing significantly, Maleque said, urging everyone to follow health rules.
“The number of delta and omicron cases is growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “We are somewhat concerned and worried. In the past 15 days, the positivity rate has soared to 18 per cent. If it keeps going like this, it won’t take long before the positivity rate is over 30 per cent.”
“The number of hospitalisations is also on the rise. If it continues this way, there will be no space for patients within a month or a month and a half. It will be difficult to treat everyone. And so, I call on the people and request that they follow health regulations. Maintain social distancing.”
The first official cases of the omicron variant in Bangladesh were recorded on Dec 11 in two women cricketers who had returned from a tournament in Zimbabwe.
According to the GISAID website, another case was logged on Dec 27, another four on Dec 28, three on Dec 31, 10 on Jan 6, one on Jan 7, nine on Jan 10, three on Jan 12 and 22 on Sunday.
The first case of the variant was recorded in Dhaka’s Basabo area. Patients were then found in Banani and Mohakhali. The new variant has also been found in Jashore, Dhaka’s Chankharpul and Uttara.
Last Wednesday, the health minister said the variant had reached the community transmission level.
