Coronavirus transmission on rise, fewer hospital admissions

Some 15 among every 100 with symptoms like fever, cough, aches are being diagnosed with coronavirus. Despite that, many are ignoring these symptoms and the number of sample testing is still low. Undetected people with coronavirus are playing a big part in spreading the virus. As a result, the coronavirus transmission rate is rising again, which is somewhat a matter of concern.

However, the number of hospital admissions is low this time. Most of the beds in the hospitals dedicated for coronavirus patients are vacant at the moment. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), some 17,608 new coronavirus patients have been identified across the country in the last 10 days. A total of 525 coronavirus patients were admitted to different government and private hospitals across the country on Friday.

Experts say the situation should not be taken lightly just because of the low hospital admission rate. People must follow the health guidelines as nothing can be said for sure about the new sub-variant of Omicron. Sayedur Rahman, professor and chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), told Prothom Alo that the BA-5 sub-variant of Omicron has so many distinctive features that it has not been possible to come to a conclusion about its nature as yet. Therefore, masks are the only tested solution for the time being.

According to the DGHS, coronavirus patients have been identified in 51 districts on Friday. The country will celebrate Eid-ul-Azha in a week's time. Public gatherings will increase in the cattle markets, malls and public transport centering ahead of Eid. There is a risk of further spread of the virus.

However, it is not that transmission of coronavirus is increasing only in Bangladesh. This trend is global. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the coronavirus transmission has been on the rise in several countries around the world for the last three weeks. The transmission rate is the highest in the eastern Mediterranean region which includes Europe, Asia and America. However, it has declined in Africa and the western Pacific. According to the WHO, coronavirus related casualties have also increased in the countries where transmission has increased.

The first coronavirus case was reported in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province of China. The whole world, including Bangladesh, is passing through a pandemic situation since then. Sometimes the infection is increasing, sometimes it is decreasing.

Many are not wearing masks while going out. People are not bothered about social distance. Even the habit of washing hands with soap or using hand sanitizers from time to time is on the wane.

The Cabinet Division issued a six-point directive on Tuesday, including wearing masks at shops, malls, markets, hotels and restaurants compulsorily. It also mentions punishment for not wearing masks. However, no steps have been taken for implementing the directives.

Public health experts say even the DGHS is not putting much emphasis on the situation as needed. They have cited multiple examples supporting this statement. The ministry of Health and the DGHS had formed several committees with experts, researchers and public health to review the pandemic situation and determine the course of action. Only one of these committees is active now. Only the national advisory committee had held meetings. This committee announced implementing six decisions after a meeting on 14 June. However, they haven’t taken any initiative for the implementation even after 16 days of the meeting.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Mushtuq Husain, a consultant at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said, “It is important to take initiative for the implementation of the recommendations of the national technical advisory committee. The meetings of other committees should be held virtually if it is not possible to hold these in person."

Meanwhile, some government services have also been stalled. The elderly and the poor who do not have people to help them with sample testing, had the chance of testing samples from the IEDCR.

IEDCR staff would go to their home and collect their samples after a phone call. The cost was Tk 300. This service has been stalled since last December.

Prof Tahmina Shirin, director of IEDCR, told Prothom Alo, “We provided this service with the help of the WHO. The service was closed after WHO stopped providing assistance.”

The country did not see any coronavirus related casualty from 30 May to 19 June. A coronavirus patient died on 20 June. Since then, there have been reports of coronavirus related casualties almost every day. Some five died on Friday.

The BA-4 and BA-5 sub-variants of Omicron have become a new concern. The WHO says transmission of BA-5 variants is rising globally.

Microbiologist Senjuti Saha told Prothom Alo, “In the analysis of genes, scientists have found that the transmission capacity of BA-5 sub-variant is very high. It can spread rapidly. This sub-variant has the capability to infect, ignoring the immune system.”

Senjuti Saha led the first coronavirus gene analysis team in the country.

Prof Md Sayedur Rahman told Prothom Alo, “It has become almost an established truth that it is not possible to contain this variant with vaccines for now.”

Both Sayedur Rahman and Senjuti Saha said the scientists are working to develop a new vaccine to contain this new variant of Omicron.

The DGHS has seen success in terms of vaccinating people. According to the figures of the WHO, Bangladesh has vaccinated 70.4 per cent of the population with two full doses of vaccine. In this case, Bangladesh is ahead of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In addition, Bangladesh has permitted the use of medicine approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of coronavirus patients in Bangladesh.

According to the figures of DGHS, some 12,583 general and 1,114 ICU beds are vacant at different government and private hospitals across the country at the moment. Besides, some 650 HDU beds for treating coronavirus patients are vacant.

Two spokespersons of the health department could not be reached for comments regarding this. Director General of DGHS prof Abul Basar Mohammad Khurshid Alam did not pick up the phone either. However, speaking to Prothom Alo last week, he said, “The hospitals are ready. There are adequate arrangements for oxygen supply.”

Samples are now tested at a total of 880 centres in the country. However, the number of sample tests is less than what is being heard about fever, cold and cough. Samples of 12,403 people were tested in the previous 24 hours till 8.00am Friday.

Senjuti Saha said, “Coronavirus detection tests need to be increased. We have to run a campaign to motivate people to get tested. Test results need to be reviewed. Then we will understand the nature of the new variant.”