At least three different sub-types of the Omicron variant have been identified in Dhaka, said a study by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).
Basically, these are the types that have been circulating in Dhaka city, the study said.
During the first two weeks of January 2022, Omicron variant was identified in 260 out of 379 samples (which is 69 per cent) positive for Covid-19 in icddr,b lab from samples received from Dhaka City, the icddr,b study found.
Complete sequencing analysis suggests that at least three different sub-types of the Omicron variant have been circulating in Dhaka, the study added.
According to the study, the Omicron variant was first detected in Bangladesh on December 6 last year. That time, the variant was detected in 5 out of 77 Covid-19 positive cases of Dhaka city tested in icddr,b lab. Others were Delta variant.
However, that picture changed in January. Now the Omicron variant is being identified more than the Delta variant.
By now, the Omicron variant has been detected in more than 100 countries around the world. This variant spreads faster than other variants, the concerned people said.
The icddr,b said that they interviewed 29 Omicron infected patients (13 male and 16 female) over the phone and found 27 patients had mild or no symptoms, while 24 of them had received 2 doses of vaccine, and 3 of them had received only 1 dose.
Among them only one person was hospitalized for one day.
One of them came from Saudi Arabia, but the others had not travelled abroad.
According to the DGHS on Sunday, the covid-19 infected rate in the country was 31.29 per cent. In the last 24 hours, 10,906 new patients were identified in the country and 14 people died.
