Coronavirus infections have begun resurging because people are ignoring health guidelines after receiving vaccine shots, Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said.
“This is worrying. We’ve become a bit reckless,” Maleque said at a programme at the National Institute of Ophthalmology in Dhaka’s Sher-Bangla Nagar on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
“People are not wearing masks and are hesitant about maintaining physical distance. The infection rate has increased as people are organising too many social programmes,” he said.
The daily rate of infection in the country dropped to around 2.0 per cent before climbing back to nearly 6.0 per cent, the minister pointed out.
“We’ve become even more reckless after taking the vaccine doses. The coronavirus has not yet left Bangladesh, it will take time,” he said.
The infection rate kept declining between Nov 30 last year and Feb 13 this year before gradually increasing again.
More than 1,000 new cases of infection were reported in the daily count on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time in two months. The hospitalisation rate has spiked as well.
Maleque said the authorities have taken steps to stem the spread of the disease. He sat with officials of the government and private sector asking them to prepare for measures to stop the spread of the virus.
The ministry sent out letters to districts to ensure that the committees at that level take proper steps and scale down gatherings.
The hospitals have been asked to keep the allotted beds ready for COVID-19 patients as well, the minister said.
Bangladesh is on the priority list of vaccine recipients under the WHO-led COVAX scheme, he said
The country is expected to receive 10.9 million doses through the programme by June, but the date has not been finalised yet, according to him.
