‘Omicron gradually replacing Delta’

The Delta variant of coronavirus is still predominant in the country but the Omicron variant is gradually taking its place, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) spokesperson Prof Dr Nazmul Islam said Sunday.

“The Omicron variant is spreading at the community level and its symptoms have similarities with that of seasonal flu. So, in any case, the advice of a doctor should be taken,” he said during the health bulletin.

About Omicron’s symptoms, he said that 73 per cent of people had runny nose, 68 per cent experienced headache, while 64 per cent experienced fatigue, 60 per cent sneezing, 60 per cent sore throat and 44 per cent coughing.

Mentioning that the number of Omicron patients and hospitalisation is increasing, Prof Nazmul said, “If the number of patients continues to increase and if the health rules are disregarded, the number of patients will increase further. It will put additional pressure on the healthcare system.”

Between 8am Saturday and 8am Sunday, Bangladesh recorded 10,906 new cases, with the daily positivity rate spiking to 31.29 per cent.

Fourteen more deaths were also recorded, taking the fatalities to 28,223 and caseload to 16,85,136.

Of the latest fatalities, six were male and eight female, the DGHS said on Sunday. Dhaka division logged the highest deaths with five fatalities; Chattogram, Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions reported two deaths each, while Khulna, Barishal, and Rangpur divisions logged one each.

The health authorities reported the latest figures after testing 34,854 samples at 857 laboratories across the country. Bangladesh has so far tested 1,21,16,880 samples.

Meanwhile, 782 patients recovered from the infection, raising the overall recovery to 15,56,861. On Saturday, the positivity rate was 28.02 per cent which was 2.43 on January 1. The country first detected Covid patients on March 8, 2020, and death from the viral disease on March 18, 2020.

Nazmul said hospitalisation had increased in recent weeks. The number of covid dedicated beds in Dhaka city is 4,736. Of these, 3,455 are vacant. Central oxygen systems are available at 119 hospitals. The number of covid dedicated ICUs is 778, where 639 are empty.

He said that 9,24,26,233 first dose had been administered. More than 5.8 crore people have been vaccinated with the second dose. More than 1.28 crore students have received the first jab and over 14 lakh students have got the second dose.

On the other hand, more than 1.79 crore people have been vaccinated with the first dose through community clinics and more than 96 lakh people have received the second dose.

“If we want to overcome this pandemic, we must follow the health protocols,” the official said.