Positivity rate crosses 11%, Omicron sub-variant detected
A new subvariant of Omicron Covid-19 virus, BA 4/5, has been identified in two Bangladeshis by the genome centre of Jashore University of Science and Technology
Bangladesh reported one death and 874 new cases from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours till 8am Tuesday.
The positivity rate was 11.03 after testing 7,927 samples across the country, which is the highest in four months. Earlier, a 12.20% positivity rate was reported on 16 February.
A new subvariant of the Omicron Covid-19 virus, BA 4/5, has been identified in two Bangladeshis by the genome centre of Jashore University of Science and Technology.
On Tuesday, a team of researchers at the centre identified the new Covid subvariant with a partial (spike protein) genome sequence of the virus collected from the two infected persons.
One of the infected is age 44 and the other is 79 years old.
One of them received a booster dose of the vaccine and the other took two doses of the vaccine. One of them is being treated at the hospital while the other is at home.
About the new subvariant, Jashore University of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor and Director of the Genome Centre, Professor Md Anwar Hossain said, this subvariant is easily able to dodge the human immune system so there is no other way but to strictly adhere to hygiene, including the use of masks.
Just a day ago, the country reported one death from Covid-19 and 873 new cases, and the positivity rate was 10.87%.
So far, 29,133 people have died and 19,58,074 have tested positive for Covid-19 in Bangladesh.
