‘Covid cases may rise significantly’

The coronavirus situation might deteriorate within the next five to seven days, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Wednesday as he warned of punitive actions for flouting the government-announced restrictions.

“Even a week ago, the average number of hospitalised patients was around 250, which has now increased to a thousand. It will rise further and the deaths might soar too,” he said at a function at the BCPS auditorium in the capital on Wednesday.

“If infections keep increasing, doctors will have to work hard to provide services,” he said, adding that 20,000 more beds had been asked to be prepared in advance. 

He said that people violating the government’s 11-point restrictions would face legal actions. 

The restrictions announced Monday came into effect today and will be in place until further notice.

Coronavirus infections in the country have almost doubled in the last seven days, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

On Jan 5, the infection rate was 4.2 per cent which jumped to 8.97 per cent on Jan 11.

At an online covid briefing on Wednesday, DGHS spokesperson Robed Amin said 1.5 lakh tests had been conducted in seven days. 

Amin said fatalities recorded in the last seven days were 20 per cent lower than the previous week.

“We identified 4,588 patients in December but we’ve already confirmed 12,850 cases in January,” he said.

Dhaka, Rangamati declared ‘red zones’

The DGHS has identified Dhaka and Rangamati as ‘red zones’. Covid infection rate in the capital is 12.9 per cent and in Rangamati, it is 10 per cent.

Jashore, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Natore, and Rangpur have been flagged as ‘yellow zones’, which means they are at mid-level risk. These districts have infection rates between 5 and 9 per cent.

The other districts have been put under the green zone. DGHS divided the districts into three categories based on their levels of infections.

‘No oxygen shortage’ 

Amin told the media that the oxygen supply was adequate and assured that there would not be any shortage even if the virus situation deteriorated. 

About 118 oxygen central lines have been set up in different hospitals and there are around 29,000 oxygen cylinders available, he said.

The stock of high-flow nasal cannulas, which are needed to treat more severe patients, is about 2,000, he said, adding that there are around 2,500 oxygen concentrators at hospitals. 

Bus fares not rising

On Wednesday, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said the buses would leave half of their seats empty in compliance with the health guidelines from Jan 15. 

“No extra fare will be charged,” he said after a meeting with transport leaders and workers at the BRTA head office. 

The owners requested allowing them to carry passengers at their full capacity and vaccinating transport workers as soon as possible. Mazumder said the issues would be raised with the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges. 

He said that raising fares would be illogical since there had been a hike in November after fuel prices increased in the local market. “The transport owners and workers have agreed to continue charging the existing fares,” he said.