Indian Variant Detected in 80% of Covid-19 Infections: IEDCR

The deadly Indian variant was found in 80% of Covid-19 infections in the country, according to a survey of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

After conducting the survey on a total of 50 Covid patients, IEDCR found 40 of those which is 80 percent of patients, were infected with the Indian variant of the viral disease.

The recent IEDCR survey found evidence of community transmission of the variant and also detected an unknown variant in the country, reports media.   

Among the 40 patients, eight were tested positive after returning from India while 18 others came in contact with overseas returnees although they did not travel abroad, IEDCR said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the remaining 14 people neither travelled abroad nor came in contact with those who have recently returned.

As a consequence, it is clear that the Indian variant is being transmitted at the community level inside the country, the IEDCR said.

The institute also found that 16 percent of the samples were infected with Beta variant and urged to maintain health protocols to curb the variant from spreading. 

On May 28, the Indian variant of Covid-19 was detected in seven Bangladeshis in Chapainawabganj.

Before that, on May 18, after returning home from neighbouring India, some three to four people were diagnosed with the Indian variant of Covid-19 in Chapainawabganj and Jashore districts.

Some six people were diagnosed with the deadly Indian variant in Jashore on 8 May, for the first time in Bangladesh. They all returned home from the neighbouring country in the prior days.

According to the health authorities, the Indian Covid variant is highly contagious. The infected persons may already have infected those who came in contact with them. If the pandemic guidelines are not followed, the variant can spread among the masses.

Though the Bangladesh government closed the border with India due to resurgence in coronavirus ceses, many Bangladeshis were allowed to enter the country, subject to having a Covid-19 negative certificate. They were put in mandatory quarantine.

Coronavirus infections soared in India in a "tsunami" of disease, setting a new world record for cases over the past few weeks.

India's second wave has hit the country with such ferocity that hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds, and antiviral drugs. Many patients are being turned away due to lack of space for them.