Delta overwhelmed Bangladesh hospitals, omicron not so much

Alamgir Hossain, a Bangladeshi expatriate who returned from South Africa, came to Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka from the capital’s Uttorkhan. He did not appear sick, but a conversation revealed he came to see a doctor after testing positive for the coronavirus.

“I don’t feel any problems. But I’ve come to see the doctor since I’ve tested positive. I’ll return home after seeing the doctor,” he said.

He underwent the test only as it was required for his journey back to South Africa. Many coronavirus patients like him are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

Such cases have increased when the omicron variant of the coronavirus has become dominant. A study found 92 percent of the recent cases in Dhaka were caused by omicron.

Last year, the delta variant ravaged Bangladesh with ferocity, creating a crisis of beds in hospitals.

The Directorate General of Health Services warned of another crisis when the omicron variant began spreading by the end of last year.

The caseload did peak by 16,033, the second most single-day detection, on Jan 25 this year after omicron became dominant. Four days later the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals reached 3,161, or 23.19 percent of the beds, the highest in a day during the wave.

The country detected highest 16,230 COVID-19 cases in a day on Jul 28, 2021 during the delta wave. In hospitals across the country, 13,255 coronavirus patients occupied 82.56 percent of the beds in COVID-19 hospitals on Aug 2.

Omicron, despite being highly infectious, causes compliations that are less severe. Experts said a large portion of the population has also developed antibodies to fight the virus by taking vaccines before omicron struck – a factor that contributed to fewer people requiring hospital care.

On Jul 15, 2021, 65 out of the 80 beds at Narsingdi District Hospital for COVID-19 patients were occupied.

After six months, the hospital had 40 more beds, but only 21 patients on Feb 15.

“Many patients came to the hospital after delta caused infection. But this time the rate of hospitalisations has fallen,” said Dr ANM Mizanur Rahman of the hospital.

“I think vaccination among people has created a strong immune response against the coronavirus. Most of the hospitalised patients with omicron now are unvaccinated. The vaccinated patients need less oxygen support after hospitalisation,” he said.

According to the DGHS, more than 100 million people have taken at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Over 70 million of them have also received the second dose and the government has administered nearly 3 million booster shots.

The crowd has become thinner at Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s COVID unit as well.

Abdul Khaleque brought his wife Majeda Begum from Dohar to Dhaka after she contracted the virus. The senior citizen was first taken to Mitford Hospital from where the doctors sent her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

“I don’t know what exactly the problem is. But she has breathing issues,” said Khaleque.

Families rushed from one hospital to another for intensive care unit beds for their loved ones during the delta wave, but this time the hospitals are not under much pressure.

The hospitals in Dhaka, which reports the highest number of COVID-19 patients, had 625 out of 773 ICU beds vacant on Thursday, according to the DGHS.

Dr Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general at the DGHS, said, “Mutations have made the coronavirus weak. Omicron cannot reach a patient’s lungs, so an infected person does not (usually) need hospitalisation.”

“As it has lost power, omicron stays in the upper tract of the respiratory system, leading to symptoms such as cold, cough and a runny nose,” he said.

“But the delta variant would make its way to the lungs. Lung infections raised the demand for oxygen and so more patients needed hospitalisation. This is not happening now. The body’s demand for oxygen is not increasing due to the infection in the upper tract of the breathing system.”

ASM Alamgir, chief scientific officer at the government’s disease control agency IEDCR, said omicron has replaced delta with more than 90 percent of the infections caused by the new variant now.

Delta is still infecting five percent patients and they need hospitalisation, according to him. Most of hospitalised omicron patients have comorbidity or weak immune system, he said.

The fatality rate has also decreased during the omicron wave. Daily death toll hit as high as 264 during the delta wave last year, but it has remained below 50 this time.

Dr Alamgir, however, warned against complacency and urged all to stay cautious even though the risk of being admitted to hospital is far less for people with omicron compared to those infected with Delta.

“Omicron does not affect lungs much, but it is equally dangerous as delta for people with heart, kidney, diabetes and other diseases.”