omicron variant
New restrictions soon to fight off Covid: Health Minister
Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases, the government is going to put some restrictions, including plying public transport at their half capacities and closing shops and markets by 8pm, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday. “Public buses will operate at half of their capacities while shops and shopping malls will have to be closed by 8 pm instead of 10 pm,” Maleque said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat. Deputy Commissioners have been asked to enforce the directives within seven days, he added.
Read: Unvaccinated people cannot dine in restaurants: Health Minister “Some patients infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected in the country. In the last two weeks, the number of Covid patients was 250 on average but yesterday the country recorded 675 patients, which is very alarming,” he said. Maleque also asked people to remain more careful. “Passengers won’t be allowed to travel in public transport without masks, and passengers will be fined if found without masks.” Besides, shops and shopping malls will be allowed to keep open till 8 pm instead of 10 pm, and no one will be allowed in shops and shopping malls without masks, said Maleque. “Both the shop owners and customers will be fined if they defy the directives,” he said.
CDC mulling COVID test requirement for asymptomatic: Fauci
As the COVID-19 omicron variant surges across the United States, top federal health officials are looking to add a negative test along with its five-day isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans who catch the coronavirus, the White House’s top medical adviser said Sunday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now considering including the negative test as part of its guidance after getting significant “pushback” on its updated recommendations last week.
Under that Dec. 27 guidance, isolation restrictions for people infected with COVID-19 were shortened from 10 days to five days if they are no longer feeling symptoms or running a fever. After that period, they are asked to spend the following five days wearing a mask when around others.
Read: US should consider vaccine mandate for US air travel: Fauci
The guidelines have since received criticism from many health professionals for not specifying a negative antigen test as a requirement for leaving isolation.
“There has been some concern about why we don’t ask people at that five-day period to get tested,” Fauci said. “Looking at it again, there may be an option in that, that testing could be a part of that, and I think we’re going to be hearing more about that in the next day or so from the CDC.”
Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said the U.S. has been seeing almost a “vertical increase” of new cases, now averaging 400,000 cases a day, with hospitalizations also up.
“We are definitely in the middle of a very severe surge and uptick in cases,” he said. “The acceleration of cases that we’ve seen is really unprecedented, gone well beyond anything we’ve seen before.”
Fauci said he’s concerned that the omicron variant is overwhelming the health care system and causing a “major disruption” on other essential services.
“When I say major disruptions, you’re certainly going to see stresses on the system and the system being people with any kind of jobs ... particularly with critical jobs to keep society functioning normally,” Fauci said. “We already know that there are reports from fire departments, from police departments in different cities that 10, 20, 25 and sometimes 30% of the people are ill. That’s something that we need to be concerned about, because we want to make sure that we don’t have such an impact on society that there really is a disruption. I hope that doesn’t happen.”
While there is “accumulating evidence” that omicron might lead to less severe illness, he cautioned that the data remains early. Fauci said he worries in particular about the tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans because “a fair number of them are going to get severe disease."
He urged Americans who have not yet gotten vaccinated and boosted to do so and to mask up indoors to protect themselves and blunt the current surge of U.S. cases.
The Food and Drug Administration last week said preliminary research indicates at-home rapid tests detect omicron, but may have reduced sensitivity. The agency noted it’s still studying how the tests perform with the variant, which was first detected in late November.
Read: Fauci says omicron variant is 'just raging around the world'
Fauci said Americans “should not get the impression that those tests are not valuable.”
“I think the confusion is that rapid antigen tests have never been as sensitive as the PCR test,” Fauci said. “They’re very good when they are given sequentially. So if you do them like maybe two or three times over a few-day period, at the end of the day, they are as good as the PCR. But as a single test, they are not as sensitive.”
A PCR test usually needs to be processed in a laboratory. The test looks for the virus’s genetic material and then reproduces it millions of times until it’s detectable with a computer.
Fauci said if Americans take the necessary precautions, the U.S. might see some semblance of more normal life returning soon.
“One of the things that we hope for is that this thing will peak after a period of a few weeks and turn around," Fauci said. He expressed hope that by February or March, omicron could fall to a low enough level “that it doesn’t disrupt our society, our economy, our way of life.”
Fauci spoke on ABC's “This Week” and CNN's “State of the Union.”
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate rises to 2.74%, 2 more die
Bangladesh logged two Covid-linked deaths with 512 fresh infections in 24 hours till Friday morning.
With the detection of the fresh cases after testing 18,522 samples, the daily-case positivity rate increased to 2.74 per cent from Thursday’s 2.25 per cent during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: COVID-19: Boosters to be administered from Tuesday
The fresh numbers reported on Friday took the country’s total fatalities to 28,072 while the caseload mounted to 15,85,539.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate declined to 97.70 per cent with the recovery of 290 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Bangladesh reported daily Covid cases above 500 after two months. On October 13, the country logged 518 new Covid cases with 17 deaths.
Meanwhile, three more Covid cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Bangladesh, raising the total tally to seven, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data, shared the results on Wednesday.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
Read: Global Covid cases top 282 million with Omicron surge
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
3 more Omicron cases detected in Bangladesh
Three more Covid cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Bangladesh, raising the total tally to seven.
According to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data, shared the results on Wednesday.
With the fresh one, seven people have been diagnosed with Omicron in Bangladesh. Earlier, two more Omicron cases were detected in the country on Tuesday.
On December 11, Bangladesh reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant in two members of the Bangladesh women cricket team.
Read: 2 more Omicron cases detected in Bangladesh
They returned from Zimbabwe after taking part in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers. The event was, however, called off midway due to the surge of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
After coming back to Dhaka, they were isolated in a hotel.
On December 6, the health department confirmed that two women cricketers were Covid-positive.
However, on December 20, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed both the players tested negative for Covid.
Global Covid cases top 277 million
Amid a global scare over the new strain of Covid-19, the overall number of coronavirus cases has now surged past 277 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 277,11,912 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,376,422 Thursday morning.
The US has recorded 51,545,991 cases to date and more than 812,069 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
Read:India braces for third Covid wave
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,222,928 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 618,091.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,758,481 on Wednesday, as 6,317 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
Besides, 318 deaths from the pandemic have been reported since Tuesday morning, taking the total death toll to 478,325.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported one more Covid-linked death and 352 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
The detection of the new cases after testing 18,938 samples took the daily case positivity rate to 1.87 percent during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The positivity rate was 1.39 percent a day before, with the detection of 291 fresh cases.
With the new numbers, the total fatalities rose to 28,052 while the caseload mounted to 15,81,986, according to the directorate.
Read: Covid positivity rate in Bangladesh rises to 1.87%
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate remained steady at 97.75 percent with the recovery of 281 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Omicron less likely to put you in the hospital, studies say
Two new British studies provide some early hints that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than the delta version.
Scientists stress that even if the findings of these early studies hold up, any reductions in severity need to be weighed against the fact omicron spreads much faster than delta and is more able to evade vaccines. Sheer numbers of infections could still overwhelm hospitals.
Still, the new studies released Wednesday seem to bolster earlier research that suggests omicron may not be as harmful as the delta variant, said Manuel Ascano Jr., a Vanderbilt University biochemist who studies viruses.
“Cautious optimism is perhaps the best way to look at this,” he said.
Also read: Moderna: Initial booster data shows good results on omicron
An analysis from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team estimated hospitalization risks for omicron cases in England, finding people infected with the variant are around 20% less likely to go to the hospital at all than those infected with the delta variant, and 40% less likely to be hospitalized for a night or more.
That analysis included all cases of COVID-19 confirmed by PCR tests in England in the first half of December in which the variant could be identified: 56,000 cases of omicron and 269,000 cases of delta.
A separate study out of Scotland, by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and other experts, suggested the risk of hospitalization was two-thirds less with omicron than delta. But that study pointed out that the nearly 24,000 omicron cases in Scotland were predominantly among younger adults ages 20 to 39. Younger people are much less likely to develop severe cases of COVID-19.
Also read: Booster at least 80% effective against severe Omicron
“This national investigation is one of the first to show that omicron is less likely to result in COVID-19 hospitalization than delta,” researchers wrote. While the findings are early observations, “they are encouraging,” the authors wrote.
The findings have not yet been reviewed by other experts, the gold standard in scientific research.
Ascano noted the studies have limitations. For example, the findings are specific to a certain point in time during a quickly changing situation in the United Kingdom and other countries may not fare the same way.
Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said that in the Scottish study, the percentage of younger people was almost twice as high for the omicron group compared with the delta group, and that “could have biased the conclusions to less severe outcomes caused by omicron.”
He nonetheless said the data were interesting and suggest omicron might lead to less severe disease. But he added: “It’s important to emphasize that if omicron has a much higher transmission rate compared to delta, the absolute number of people requiring hospitalization might still increase, despite less severe disease in most cases.”
Data out of South Africa, where the variant was first detected, have also suggested omicron might be milder there. Salim Abdool Karim, a clinical infectious disease epidemiologist in South Africa, said earlier this week that the rate of admissions to hospitals was far lower for omicron than it was for delta.
“Our overall admission rate is in the region of around 2% to 4% compared to previously, where it was closer to 20%,” he said. “So even though we’re seeing a lot of cases, very few are being admitted.”
Global covid cases near 275 million as Omicron raging through world
The overall number of global Covid cases is fast approaching 275 million amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in several western countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 274,692,249 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,354,148 as of Monday morning.
The US has recorded 50,846,828 cases so far and more than 806,439 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
In Britain, another 12,133 Omicron cases have been recorded, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total Omicron cases found in the country to 37,101, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Britain reported 82,886 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 11,361,387, according to official figures released Sunday. The country registered a further 45 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 147,218, with 7,611 Covid-19 patients still in hospital.
Read: UK health boss: COVID-19 rules could tighten by Christmas
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,213,762 cases as of Monday, while its Covid death toll rose to 617,803.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,740,275 on Sunday, as 7,081 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 264 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 477,422.
Moreover, 10 new cases of the Omicron variant were logged in India's capital on Friday, taking the country's case tally of the new variant to 98.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported another Covid-linked death while the daily-case positivity rate rose to 1.22 per cent with health authorities logging 211 fresh cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
On Saturday, the daily-case positivity rate dropped below 1 per cent with the logging of 122 new cases.
The total fatalities rose to 28,048 while the caseload mounted to 15,81, 083 with the fresh ones, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The latest deceased was a man, aged between 51 and 60, and he hailed from the Dhaka division.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 17, 332 samples, said the DGHS.
Besides, the recovery rate declined a bit to 97.75 per cent with the recovery of 168 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Read: Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19
Booster dose
Bangladesh on Sunday started administering the Covid-19 booster dose to health workers on trial basis in capital Dhaka to fight off Covid-19.The booster dose is being administered at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in Mohakhali area of the city in the morning.“Initially, the booster dose will be administered on a low scale as a caution. After observing the effects of the vaccine for a few days, it’ll be rolled out for others,” Dr Abu Hossain Md Mainul Ahsan, the Civil Surgeon of Dhaka district, told journalists on Saturday in a virtual briefing.Besides, doctors, nurses and health workers will get the dose, while senior citizens will get it in the next phase, keeping their comorbidities in mind.” said the Civil Surgeon.On December 13, the Cabinet directed the authorities concerned, particularly the health minister and the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, to work on a precise guideline over the campaign of booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.
Current booster effective against Omicron: Health Minister
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday said the booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine will work against the newly emerged variant Omicron.
“We’ve information that Omicron can largely be prevented by taking booster doses,” he said while inaugurating the trial administration of booster doses at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in Mohakhali in the morning.
As the government has enough stock of vaccines, the decision to administer the third booster dose has been taken, said Minister Maleque.
“Anyone who has taken the first two doses of any Covid-19 vaccines is eligible to receive the Pfizer booster shot,” he said.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh rolls out booster dose in Dhaka
Above 60 senior citizens, patients with comorbidities and frontliners will get the booster shots on a priority basis, the minister said.
He said: “As per our plan to bring 70 per cent of the population under vaccination, we need to vaccinate 12 crore people by April, 2020.”
WHO: Omicron detected in 89 countries, cases doubling fast
The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries, and COVID-19 cases involving the variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad, the World Health Organization said Saturday.
Omicron's "substantial growth advantage" over the delta variant means it is likely to soon overtake delta as the dominant form of the virus in countries where the new variant is spreading locally, the U.N. health agency said.
Read: Booster at least 80% effective against severe Omicron
Global Covid cases surpass 270mn amid Omicron surge
The overall global number of coronavirus cases has surged past 270 million amid the race of scientists to learn about its Omicron variant’s transmissibility and severity.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 270,126,616 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,305,655 on Monday morning.
The US has recorded 49,919,637 cases so far and more than 797,345 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,177,059 cases as of Monday, while its Covid death toll rose to 616,457.
India has registered 7,774 new cases of Covid-19 during the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 34,690,510, the country’s health ministry data revealed on Sunday.
Read:UK faces 'tidal wave' of omicron cases: Boris Johnson
The ministry also reported 306 more deaths during the same period, taking the total death toll to 475,434.
India also reported two more cases of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) on Sunday, taking the country's tally of the new variant to 35, officials said.
Meanwhile, Britain faces a “tidal wave” of infections from the Omicron coronavirus variant, and announced a huge increase in booster vaccinations to strengthen defences against it, warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday.
Another 633 Omicron cases have been confirmed in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the Covid-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total cases found in the country to 1,898, British health authorities said on Saturday.
Britain reports 54,073 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,771,444, according to official figures released on Saturday.
The country also reported a further 132 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 146,387, with 7,413 COVID-19 patients still in hospital.
The chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the 1of the highly transmissible new strain “adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and health care services” at a time when Covid-19 is already widespread. They recommended raising the alert level from 3 to 4 on a 5-point scale. The top level, 5, indicates authorities think the healthcare system is about to be overwhelmed.
The doctors said early evidence shows Omicron is spreading much faster than the currently dominant delta variant, and that vaccines offer less protection against it. British officials say Omicron is likely to replace delta as the dominant strain in the UK within days.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported six more Covid-related deaths along with 329 fresh cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning amid the entry of Omicron.
Bangladesh last recorded over 300 daily Covid-cases with 312 cases and three Covid-linked deaths.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate increased again to 1.52 per cent from Saturday’s 1.13 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The total fatalities mounted to 28,028 while the caseload mounted to 15,79, 325, with the number of fresh cases.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
Four of the latest deceased were men and two women.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 21,612 samples.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.77 per cent with the recovery of 288 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On Thursday, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic is apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
However, some of the leading public health experts in Bangladesh have warned that the current trend of plummeting Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh could well be the obvious calm before a cataclysmic storm.
Their fears centre around children below 12 who remain out of the vaccine coverage and the elderly people.
These experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, sheer disregard for Covid-safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh -- a trend many European countries are witnessing now.
Read:South African doctors see signs omicron is milder than delta
Omicron enters Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Saturday reported the first two cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus.
“These two infected female patients (cricketers) returned from Zimbabwe recently,” ASM Alamgir, chief scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told UNB.
He said the Omicron patients are members of the Bangladesh Women's Cricket Team and they do not have any severe symptoms.
However, the two female members of the cricket team have been kept in a hotel for isolation, he added.
The two cricketers tested positive for Covid-19 on December 6.
The women's team recently returned home from Zimbabwe after confirming their participation in the next 50-over World Cup, which will be Bangladesh’s maiden World Cup appearance as well.