Omicron infects 69pc patients in Dhaka: icddr,b

A report published by International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) on 20 January revealed that 69 per cent of the Covid-19 patients in Dhaka are infected with Omicron variant.

This has been revealed from analysis of the samples in the first two weeks of January, the report said which has been published on the icddr,b website.

The report said icddr,b tested samples of 379 Covid patients in the first two weeks of this month. Among them, the Omicron variant was found in the samples of 260 patients, which is 69 per cent.

Genome sequencing of the samples revealed that at least three types of Omicron variant has spread in Dhaka, the report added.

The Omicron variant of novel coronavirus was first reportedly detected in the continent of Africa in November last year. In Bangladesh, the first case of Omicron infection was detected on 6 December. Samples of 77 Covid patients were tested at the lab of icddr,b in December, and five were found to be infected with the Omicron variant. Others were infected with Delta variant.

The situation, however, has changed in January as the patients infected with Omicron variant has increased a lot. According to a calculation of icddr,b, Omicron variant was detected among 63 Covid patients as of 20 January. Among them, 52 were from Dhaka, eight from Chattogram and three from Jashore.

icddr,b talked to 29 patients, including 16 women, infected with the Omicron variant. Twenty seven of the infected showed either mild or no symptom at all. Among the person interviewed, only one patient was admitted to hospital for one day only.

Among the infected 29 people, 24 took two doses of Covid-19 vaccine while three took first dose only. One of them came to Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia while none of the remaining patients did go outside the country. In that time, 15 people died of the virus infection.

The icddr,b also said the Alpha variant of novel coronavirus was dominant in Bangladesh between January and March in 2021. The Beta variant was identified in March. By May, the people infected with Beta variant outnumbered the people with other variants. The Delta variant was detected in May. Since then, this variant dominated the infection until June.