The Covid variant, B.1.617, which wreaked havoc in India, is now slowly making its way into bordering districts in Bangladesh, and experts are now warning that the country could witness 20,000 daily Covid cases by end of June this year. 

The infection rate in frontier districts in Bangladesh has recently gone up, possibly because of the prevalence of the fast-spreading Covid variant. Authorities have to close down Chaipainawabganj district to contain the spread locally. Inter-city travel was also banned there. 

“The deadly variant has already entered the country,” Robed Amin, Bangladesh’s director-general of health services, warned, adding, “there could be full-scale outbreak if it spread across the country.” 

Many bordering districts are seeing a positivity rate of over 30 percent while nationally it remains around eight percent. 

Experts warned the government that the country may face a similar situation to India if they fail to stop the spread. The lack of medical oxygen and necessary health infrastructure, they claimed, could further complicate its response to a future crisis.

India, at its peak, had been reported over 300,000 daily cases early this month. However, the situation was controlled lately as several states went into lockdown completely.  

Bangladesh, which is even more densely populated, faces a greater risk of the deadly spread if B.1.617 variant creeps into other cities. 

(SAM)