In Rajshahi, the delta variant of coronavirus is at the peak of infection, according to the Directorate of Health.
The district is now witnessing the presence of coronavirus in an average of 40 per cent of the samples compared to the daily sample tests. Currently, the health department considers this to be the highest infection.
Divisional Health Director Dr. Habibul Ahsan Talukder said, “The situation I saw in Chapainawabganj with the first push of Corona and Delta variant, it seems that the peak of infection is going on in Rajshahi now. After a few days of observation, the infection rate is 40 percent. Not more than that. So it can be considered as the peak of infection.
He said the lockdown is going on now. Hopefully the infection will come down when the lockdown is completed in 14 days. If the lockdown was not given, the infection would have increased. Now we want the infection to stop. Strict lockdown has to be implemented for that. That's the way it is.
However, Rajshahi public health expert Professor Chinmoy Kanti Das thinks that the information available in the health department is not enough to determine the rate of social transmission. Moreover, the number of sample tests is not enough. That's why he thinks that any conjecture or idea about the infection may not be appropriate.
The all-out lockdown started on June 11 in Rajshahi. On that day, a total of 1688 samples were tested in the district. 339 people were identified. Rapid antigen test, RT-PCR and gene expert combined average detection rate of 20.8 percent. Only RTPCR test rate was 38 percent. On June 12, 937 samples were tested in the district. 195 identified. The detection rate was 20.89 percent. On this day, the rate of infection in RTPCR test alone is 38.73 percent.
Health expert Dr. Chinmoy Kanti Das said the infection has not abated since the lockdown. The lockdown in Rajshahi should have been given at least 15 days earlier. We will get the information whether the situation is improving after the lockdown 14 days after the start of the lockdown. Rajshahi needed a lockdown with Chapainawabganj. But the lockdown was not given for mango. That's where the damage happened. If it was a lockdown then I could see the benefits now. Then you would not have to see such a horrible picture of infection.
He added that there is no point in knowing whether it has risen to peak now. However, there are still opportunities to control the situation. For this, it is necessary to ensure that the overall lockdown is implemented well.
Despite the lockdown in the city, people in the villages are still walking around without following the hygiene rules. But the ratio of people admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) and death rate at the upazilla level is not very low. Rather the number is alarming. But the people of the village are still not aware.
Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani, director of RMCH, said the Delta variant of the Corona has reached villages in Rajshahi. If you do not follow the rules of hygiene, the social infection can start soon. The last few days have seen marginalized patients who have never had it before. The infection rate of these marginalized people is about 30 percent.
Expressing concern over the issue, the hospital director said that most of the people in the village who are being affected eat from day to day. Their family lives on doing labor jobs.
He said the people of the village were being infected only from blind faith and misconceptions.
Shamim Yazdani said marginalized people were affected by the corona last year, but that it was very small in number. In contrast, many rich people were affected. Many big businessmen died.
From this the common people of the village have taken a wrong lesson that it is a disease of the rich, not of the poor.
Recently, a high-level team from the Directorate of Health visited the Corona situation in Rajshahi. They gave some instructions to the local health department.
Officials said the number of tests should be increased several times, especially at the marginal or upazilla level as much as possible. But Rajshahi public health expert Dr. Chinmoy Kanti Das said the tests is not going well at the marginal level. As a result, the victims are not going to be brought into complete isolation. If we test village by village, we will understand that the actual number of victims is much higher than what we are seeing.
Dr. Chinmoy Kanti said the only way to escape from the way the corona reached from the city to the village was to test, test and test. At the same time, everyone has to wear a mask and follow the rules of hygiene.