Sudden spike in Covid infections in 4 Chattogram upazilas
Health officials say ‘easy travel between upazilas and the city’ to blame for rising infection rates
Chattogram's four northern upazilas reported a sudden surge in coronavirus cases in the last two days.
Over one-third of new cases in the district on Sunday and Monday, were diagnosed in Fatikchhari, Hathazari, Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazila, according to government data.
Health officials are blaming 'easy travel between the upazilas and the city' for the spike.
Chattogram reported 136 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday. Of these, 67 cases were confirmed in the city of Chattogram. Of the 69 other cases, 56 were reported in four upazilas, according to data released by the civil surgeon's office.
On Monday, 157 people were freshly diagnosed with the deadly virus in Chattogram out of the 980 samples tested. Of them, 99 were city residents, and the rest were from the upazilas. The four northern upazilas witnessed 66 fresh cases on the day.
"In the last two days, 46 Covid-positive people have been identified in the upazila. There are patients in almost all the 20 beds of the upazila hospital dedicated for Covid-patients," said Dr Imrul Kaysar, upazila health officer of Fatikchhari.
Chattogram Civil Surgeon Sheikh Fazle Rabbi said, "More patients are being identified in areas adjacent to the entrance of the city and in the northern upazilas."
Residents from adjacent upazilas regularly commute to the city. A lot of people from northern districts come to these areas in search of work. We are closely monitoring the situation."