Surging Covid infections alarming: DGHS
BI Report || BusinessInsider
Photo: Representational
A two-fold increase in coronavirus cases in Bangladesh over the last one week has plunged the health authorities into a tizzy and sparked fears of a third wave.
“The case would have increased if the number of sample tests were increased,” Robed Amin, spokesperson of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a virtual health bulletin on Wednesday.
The rising number of cases has forced the government to declare Dhaka and Rangamati as red and six other districts as yellow zones.
Sensing the alarming spike in infection rate, the government has announced 11-point instructions in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country with effect from Thursday.
The government will operate mobile courts across the country to ensure enforcement of the health rules.
The Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus are equally fuelling the infection rate, he said adding that it has to be assumed that the Omicron variant is creating havoc if the infection rate takes an excessive turn abruptly.
Robed Amin said the number of sample tests increased by 10 percent over the last seven days and 10,474 new cases were detected during the period. More than 6,000 cases were detected in the last week compared to the previous week, he added.
Besides, the infection rate increased by 169.12 percent compared to the previous week while the death rate declined to 20 percent during the same period, he said.
The new cases increased to two-fold between January 5 and January 11 as the infection rate was 4.2 percent while it stood at 8.97 percent on January 11.
“The situation was under our control until January 1 and since then the infection rate of the virus has been increasing continually which is alarming for us,” he said.
The country saw 4,588 cases in December whereas a total of 12,850 cases were detected in the first 11 days of January and the figure would have gone up if all people were tested, he said.
Dhaka and Rangamati area are in the extreme risk zone for coronavirus, the health official said.
