People with symptoms reluctant to get tested, say the health authorities
File photo: A health official uses a nasal swab to collect sample from a man for Covid-19 testing at Central Police Hospital in Rajarbagh, Dhaka on Thursday, May 21, 2020 Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Report
Publish : 12 Jan 2022, 03:15 PMUpdate : 12 Jan 2022, 10:35 PM
A large number of people in Bangladesh with symptoms are not getting their samples tested, says the Directorate General Health Services (DGHS).
At the daily bulletin on Wednesday, its spokesperson Robed Amin said that the number of new cases and daily infection rate would be much higher if more people could be tested.
The test positivity rate started to climb sharply after January 5 and in the past one week the number of infections has gone up by 70%, said Amin, director (Non-communicable Disease Prevention) of the DGHS.
Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading throughout the world while Delta variant is still prevailing, he said before adding a sharp increase in infections would mean that the Omicron variant is dominating.
“People of all ages are vulnerable to the new variant,” said Amin.
According to figures by the DGHS, infections in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Comilla, and Gazipur districts are likely to increase sharply.
Bangladesh logged 2,458 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning, up from 2,231 cases the previous day. The daily test positivity rate also climbed to 8.97% from Sunday’s 8.53%.
Low Covid testing rate concerns DGHS
People with symptoms reluctant to get tested, say the health authorities
A large number of people in Bangladesh with symptoms are not getting their samples tested, says the Directorate General Health Services (DGHS).
At the daily bulletin on Wednesday, its spokesperson Robed Amin said that the number of new cases and daily infection rate would be much higher if more people could be tested.
The test positivity rate started to climb sharply after January 5 and in the past one week the number of infections has gone up by 70%, said Amin, director (Non-communicable Disease Prevention) of the DGHS.
Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading throughout the world while Delta variant is still prevailing, he said before adding a sharp increase in infections would mean that the Omicron variant is dominating.
Also Read- Covid: Dhaka, Rangamati marked as high-risk zones
“People of all ages are vulnerable to the new variant,” said Amin.
According to figures by the DGHS, infections in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Comilla, and Gazipur districts are likely to increase sharply.
Bangladesh logged 2,458 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning, up from 2,231 cases the previous day. The daily test positivity rate also climbed to 8.97% from Sunday’s 8.53%.
Also Read- What are the new pandemic restrictions?
The country’s daily infection rate has been witnessing a continuous increase since January 1.
A test positivity rate of over 5% is a cause for concern for any country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
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