Hospitals will soon be full to the brim

The coronavirus transmission is galloping at such an "alarming" rate that there will be no space left in the hospitals in the next one to one-and-a-half months for Covid-19 patients, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday.

"We are worried and panicking a bit -- we do not want the transmission to rise like this," Maleque told reporters following a meeting on the Covid-19 vaccine with the Russian ambassador at the secretariat.

He came up with the statement hours before the health directorate reported 6,676 new cases, the highest in six months and an increase of 28 percent from the preceding 24 hours. The positivity rate is 20.88 percent positivity rate, up from 17.82 percent the previous day.

The genomic sequence data showed that 69 percent of the Covid-19 cases are caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Dhaka city, according to Maleque.

"We do think the situation will be similar outside."

Officially, 55 cases of Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in Bangladesh as of Sunday, according to GISAID, the global database for genomic data on the coronavirus.

Maleque went on urge mask wear at all times.

"We have seen fairs and political programmes where people are not wearing masks. They are putting themselves and others in danger. The 11-point restriction of the government has to be followed. Otherwise, the Omicron cases will increase further," he added.

The transmission trend is highlighting a "bad sign", said Khurshid Alam, the director-general of the health directorate, in a virtual press briefing yesterday.

Omicron is more prevalent in Dhaka, but in other areas, the Delta variant is still dominant, he said.

Asked why the latest directives of the government are not being enforced properly, he said: "All we can do is make the suggestions -- there are other ministries to implement it."

He also presented a short analysis on the Covid-19 deceased recently.

As many as 80 percent of the Covid-19 deaths were of unvaccinated individuals, he said, adding it is not possible to state yet whether there were any deaths caused by the Omicron variant.

The variant has undergone 50 genetic changes, making it more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant and more likely to evade the immune protection provided by vaccines or previous infection.

Vaccinated patients are more likely to experience milder disease if infected by the Omicron variant, while a booster dose is said to provide bigger and broader protection against the rogue variant.

In Bangladesh, the booster dose campaign began on December 28 last year for frontline workers and those aged 60 years and above.

And yesterday, the government lowered the eligibility for booster dose to those 50 years and above, for which an additional 70 lakh doses would be required, according to Maleque.

At present, 9.3 crore doses are in hand after 14.5 crore shots were administered.

"We have sufficient vaccines," Maleque said, adding that Russia wants to supply the one-shot "Sputnik Light" vaccine instead of the double-dose "Sputnik V" procured by the government.

The government has asked Russia to provide the vaccine specified in the agreement, he added. Russia is yet to supply any quantity of the vaccine.