The rate of transmission of Covid-19 has been increasing at an alarming rate for the past seven days across the country and hospitals will soon be receiving patients beyond their capacity if it continues, says the Directorate General of Health Services.
The recent spike in infections is due to the Omicron variant, its spokesperson Nazmul Islam has said during Sunday’s Covid bulletin.
“Those who are suffering from coronavirus need to stay in isolation for 10 days now instead of 14 days. The same thing is true for workers in the health sector and they can join work immediately after 10 days if there is no symptom,” he said adding a RT-PCR negative report was not mandatory to join work.
However, there is no chance to take the Omicron spread lightly, he added.
“We have seen that the Delta variant was dominant until last December and its impact was strong in the country until that period. But still, the detection rate of the virus was low until then,” he said.
However, in the last seven days, the rate of infection has been constantly increasing, Dr Nazmul added.
He said parents must be careful while taking their children outside at a time when schools are closed. He called on the parents to maintain proper hygiene at home as well.
A total of 8,353 foreign nationals entered Bangladesh through various border entries and airports in the 24 hours till 8am on Sunday.