Amid a sudden upsurge in coronavirus cases, health experts fear that a highly transmissible variant of the deadly virus might have appeared in Bangladesh through mutations. They think a comprehensive study and genome squeezing is necessary to examine whether the mutations have led to the new variant contributing to the upsurge in Covid cases in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, a team of Bangladeshi researchers in collaboration with Monash University in Malaysia found that coronavirus mutated 4,604 times in Bangladesh from April to December last year. Examining 371 genome sequences of the virus, they found 34 unique mutations in Bangladesh. The researchers laid emphasis on conducting more research on the unique mutations as they think any of them can be deadlier and the cause of the recent spike in the virus cases. Also read: Virus variants, vaccine inequity responsible for rising Covid caseload: WHO Causes behind the fresh wave of COVID-19 in Bangladesh Talking to UNB, noted virologist Nazrul Islam, a member of the national technical advisory committee formed to tackle Covid-19, said it seems that a fresh wave of the coronavirus has begun in the country.

More than 99 million people have been infected with Covid-19 across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).