Omicron variant accounts for all COVID cases in Bangladesh

The omicron variant of the coronavirus accounts for all cases of COVID-19 in Bangladesh, according to research from the IEDCR.

At least 96.2 percent of the patients contracted the BA.2 strain and the remaining 4 percent the BA.1 sub variant, the health agency said. 

The BA.1 subvariant was only detected in Dhaka. The samples were collected in the Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and Sylhet divisions.

On Sunday, the IEDCR released a statement saying it had collected 74 coronavirus samples from Feb 1 to Feb 22 from five divisions and conducted a genome sequencing on them. 

In a previous report, the IEDCR collected 220 samples across the country from Jan 1 to Jan 31 and found that 87 percent of coronavirus infections were caused by the omicron variant and 13 percent by the delta variant.

By the middle of January, omicron was causing 98 percent of COVID-19 cases across the country.

When asked if the delta variant tailing off would alleviate the coronavirus infection situation, IEDCR Chief Scientific Officer Dr ASM Alamgir said the impact was uncertain.

“We need to wait and see if the contagion capacity of the virus increases or decreases; if the severity of the pathogen increases further. For now, under the current circumstances, we can be a little relaxed.  But this doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. We must follow health protocols,” he said.

On Dec 9 last year, two women cricketers returning from Zimbabwe were found infected with the omicron variant. Due to the spread of the omicron variant of the pathogen, coronavirus cases began to surge at the beginning of January. Currently, the country is experiencing a downtrend in COVID-19 cases.