Md Joynal Abedin Khan
The number of infection and death from COVID-19 rose sharply in the past two weeks in Bangladesh, forcing the authorities to take series of measures to stop the further spread of the virus.
The country recorded over 13 per cent cases of coronavirus in the previous 14 days while registered the remaining 87 per cent cases in 385 days since reporting its first case on March 8, 2020.
Data provided by the Directorate General of Health Services showed that a total of 89,042 cases of coronavirus were recorded in the past two weeks when 835 people died.
Bangladesh recorded at least 5,000 cases and 45 deaths each day since March 29 in a clear indication of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of cases began to fall in January when the country recorded less than 1,000 cases in a day for 51 consecutive days.
The cases began to rise from the second week of March before it broke all records on March 29.
In the past two weeks, Bangladesh broke the record of both the number of cases and deaths several times. On Sunday, the country recorded a total of 684,756 cases and 9,739 deaths.
While the majority of COVID-19 patients have recovered there remained over 100,000 active cases still, according to DGHS data.
Virologist and former Vice-Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Nazrul Islam said that the number of cases rose as people were reluctant to follow the health safety guidelines.
“The government should ensure that people followed the health guidelines, including wearing masks and maintaining physical distance to curb the virus outbreak,” he said.
Unlike the common viruses seen in this part of the world, coronavirus is different, he said.
“Normally virus-related diseases rise during winter in our country but the coronavirus is different from these types of virus,” he said.
The arrival of the South African variant in the country also contributed to the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh, said he said.
The South African variant has accounted for 81 per cent of the positive cases in Dhaka since the third week of March 2021.
Research conducted by icddr,b revealed this information.
