Covid Pandemic: Delta drives rise in deaths

Nearly five people have died per hour since the Delta variant of the Covid-19 was detected in the country on May 8, shows data from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The number of deaths per hour over the last three months is four times higher than that in the previous months of the pandemic.

The DGHS data shows 10,371 people died between May 8 and yesterday, meaning 4.72 people died per hour.

On the other hand, 11,833 deaths were recorded between May 7 this year and March 18 last year when the first Covid cases were detected in the country. On average, the country saw 1.18 deaths per hour.

A total of 22,150 Covid deaths were confirmed across the country till yesterday, with a date rate of 1.66 percent, shows the data.

The World Health Organisation has termed the Delta variant a "variant of concern" as it is more transmissible than the virus' previous strains.

Health experts in Bangladesh too have expressed concern over the overall Covid situation and said the country's healthcare system is grappling with an increased number of infections and deaths caused by the variant.

They also criticised the government for suddenly reopening export-oriented factories amid the ongoing lockdown, saying the restrictions apparently have not been much successful in putting the brakes on the surge in cases due to the government move.

Thousands of workers had to return to their workplaces, mainly in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur, following the sudden announcement that the factories would reopen on August 1. They had gone to their village homes to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha with their loved ones.

Most of them suffered miserably on roads as public transport remained suspended amid the lockdown. They could hardly follow the health guidelines.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, experts suggested that the government must expand its inoculation campaign and ensure that people maintain health safety guidelines properly. Otherwise, a "big disaster" lies ahead, they warned.

"The government should scale up its vaccination programmes and give vaccines to as many people as possible," said Prof Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, chief of the government's National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19.

Following the health guidelines is equally important, he said, adding, "People must adhere to the guidelines properly and Covid tests should be increased."

DAILY UPDATE

A total of 248 people -- 138 men and 110 women -- died from Covid in 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, according to a DGHS press release.

On Thursday, the country witnessed the highest daily deaths -- 264.

In the last seven days, 1,647 people died across the country. As many as 12,606 infections were reported during the period, taking the total number of infections to 13,35,260, said the release.

The Covid positivity rate yesterday was 26.25 percent while the overall positivity rate stood at 16.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Prof Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) of the DGHS, said the health department was working extremely hard to tackle the unprecedented health crisis and that doctors and other health professionals were already exhausted.

"They have been working extremely hard. They are burned out … I'm really concerned about the coming days," he told this paper.

Though the government extended the countrywide "strict lockdown" till August 10, a huge number of people are coming out of homes with several city streets witnessing traffic congestions.

Emphasising the importance of an effective lockdown, Dr Mohammad Shahidullah said, "Lockdown harms financially. But there is no alternative to it either. If the situation deteriorates in the future, we will suggest area-wise lockdown instead of enforcing it across the country."

Since April 5, the government has been enforcing restrictions in phases to curb the spread of the virus.

However, it decided to lift the lockdown after August 11. Following an inter-ministerial meeting on Covid-19 on Tuesday, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said shops and offices would reopen on August 11.

Operation of public transport will also resume on a limited scale, he added.