The new, seemingly more contagious Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, BF.7, has been detected in Bangladesh amid concerns about a fresh surge in Covid cases. Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed the matter on Sunday.
Reportedly, the BF.7 subvariant, which descended from the BA.5 strain, is extremely adept at evading immunity and is believed to be responsible for China's current Covid surge. It is worth mentioning that the presence of the Omicron subvariant was found in the genome sequence reports of one of the four Covid-infected Chinese citizens who had come to Bangladesh from their country recently.
Currently, coronavirus deaths and cases in Bangladesh are showing a downward trend, which gives us a chance to reflect and plan for a next wave of the rogue virus. The challenge for government now is to ensure the peak is not so furious that it overburdens our healthcare
system again.
When it comes to halting the Covid-19 crisis, virus testing is the key to diagnosing cases and tracking the pandemic. Therefore, we must take necessary steps to conduct adequate and accurate testing and for that our testing facilities need to be expanded. Also, the government should encourage people to go for Covid-19 tests whenever needed.
Hospitals should be kept ready with
all the necessary equipment and facilities
so that they can face any challenge if the
situation worsens in the coming days
The government should integrate pragmatic preventive measures based on the experiences garnered from the previous waves of the pandemic so that it can act fast to control the possible winter wave and ensure proper healthcare services for the infected people. Hospitals should be kept ready with all the necessary equipment and facilities so that they can face any challenge if the situation worsens in the coming days. Also, this time the government should remain stern about screening people coming from abroad and send them to quarantine mandatorily.
We must educate and empower people to protect themselves from the infection of the virus. It needs no mentioning that self-defence is the best way to prevent a pandemic like corona. We have to involve people with plans and programmes to control the virus. Without people’s involvement and cooperation, it would be tough to control the probable Covid-19 winter wave successfully.
Coronavirus is still here. That means that mask-wearing and social distancing will remain indispensable, and we will need to keep using the same tools scientists have been clamouring for all along: surveillance testing, contact tracing and quarantine.