Health Minister Zahid Maleque said that Bangladesh has reported the first cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
He said this while inaugurating the Vitamin 'A' campaign at Dhaka Shishu (Children's) Hospital on Saturday.
Two women cricketers of Bangladesh have been infected with the Omicron variant.
“We have quarantined the two women cricketers who returned from Zimbabwe with Omicron virus in their bodies and they are stable. Arrangements have been made to provide the cricketers with all the medical treatment that they require.
He further said that their condition is being checked from time to time.
“It may take a few days for them to fully recover. We are doing contact tracing; testing everyone who came in contact with them,” he said.
He said that everyone coming from outside the country must be very careful.
“The Omicron virus has so far been found in 62 countries outside Africa. It spreads very fast. However, the symptoms are mild. So far we have not received any news of any death,” he added.
Bangladesh women’s team returned home on December 1 from Zimbabwe after the Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers 2022 was called off midway due to the outbreak of a new strain of Covid-19 called Omicron.
“Since they arrived from there, they were more likely to be infected with Omicron. I was not surprised. The best part is that everyone else has tested negative and has no symptoms. I have spoken to them personally. They have no fever or body aches. They did not even realize that they were infected with the virus,” BCB president Papon told the media at BKSP.
The tournament was abandoned midway with the emergence of the latest Covid-19 variant Omicron in African nations and due to the travel restrictions imposed from a number of countries in the continent, including the host country Zimbabwe.
WHO declared the Omicron variant as a variant of concern on November 26.
Referring to the risk of reinfection, the WHO said, “Preliminary analysis suggests that the mutations present in the Omicron variant may reduce neutralising activity of antibodies resulting in reduced protection from natural immunity.”
