Covid-19 may no longer be a serious health threat to Bangladesh as the country has already achieved herd immunity against the virus with the widespread infections of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, say experts. Though there is no credible study and serosurvilnce report here to know about the immunity developed among people across Bangladesh, the medical analysts think the virulent Omicron acted like a natural vaccine infecting most population in the country, helping build the herd immunity. Talking to UNB, leading public health experts Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, Prof Muzaherul Huq and Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed said any new variant of the virus can still infect people having the immunity gained through the Omicron infections, but it may not cause severe illness. They, however, warned that any type of Covid variant can be dangerous for only the immunocompromised people and those who have comorbidities. Herd immunity is a concept based on the body's immune resistance to the spread of a deadly disease (bacterial or viral infection) and it can be obtained in two ways -- naturally through infections of the majority of the population and artificially through vaccinating around 80 percent of the population of a country. High-quality immunity Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, head of the microbiology department at Gono University, said the way Omicron has spread across Bangladesh, leaving behind a high-quality natural immunity among people in the country. “So, I think Covid may not cause serious problems in the country in the days to come.” He believes Bangladesh has already attained herd immunity like many other countries in the world. Read: Dhaka, Abu Dhabi discuss bilateral issues “It’s very good quality herd immunity. Natural herd immunity is much better than vaccine-induced immunity. The American CDC is also now recognising the natural immunity gained through Omicron infection is as good as double or triple vaccinations,” the expert said. He said not only Bangladesh but also many countries in the world are going to attain natural herd immunity because of massive exposure to the Omicron variant. “As Omicron has spread rapidly all over the world, hardly anyone will remain without a natural antibody with the ebbing of its wave.” Dr Bijon thinks over 80 percent of people in Bangladesh have already been infected by Omicron, while over 70 percent have already received the first dose of vaccines. “So, the new variant in the future is unlikely to cause any big problem in terms of severity of the illness.” Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) of DGHS, said Omicron worked as a natural vaccine as most people of the country were infected by it. “So, we’ve already gained the herd immunity against the Covid virus.” He said the new normal life will not be affected and people may not suffer much from the Covid if any new variant does not come that can dodge the existing immunity of people. Going to be like flu Dr Bijon is hopeful that Covid-19 will become like a flu in the near future, but it will not be eliminated from the world. “If a new variant emerges in the coming days, it may infect people with symptoms like many other remaining flues.” He, however, said new variants are likely to be a matter of concern for the people who are immunocompromised.

The cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 have jumped to 69 in Bangladesh, with five more infections detected till Sunday, according to GISAID, a primary source that provides open access to genomic data of Coronavirus. The latest cases were detected at the virology lab of the Dhaka-based international health research institute icddr,b. On January 20, nine more cases were found to be Omicron positive, pushing the tally of the new Coronavirus variant, through highly time-consuming and scarcely available genomic sequencing, to 64. Scientists can confirm if a case is positive with Omicron or Delta by looking closely at the genetic material provided through testing. Bangladesh reported its first two Omicron cases on December 11 last year in two members of the Bangladesh women's cricket team that had been forced to return early from the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, deep in southern Africa, where the most transmissible variant of SARS-CoV-2 till now is believed to have originated. Doctors in South Africa, the continent's most developed country, were the first to alert the world of this new variant. Omicron is gradually replacing Delta through community transmission in Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said Sunday. The variant is spreading at the community level, and its symptoms have similarities with that of seasonal flu, DGHS spokesperson Dr Md Nazmul Islam said.

The number of passport-holding passengers travelling to and from India through the Benapole land port has declined significantly for various reasons, including strict precautionary measures taken to contain the spread of the new variant of coronavirus Omicron. Bangladeshi passengers said an alarming spike in Covid cases in the neighbouring country, two times Covid test for passengers and hassles caused by brokers are the main reasons why the number of travellers is declining. Those who need to travel to India for medical, business and education purposes have been suffering a lot, they said. According to the port authorities, about 3000 passengers travelled through the land port per day on average last week, but the number of passport-holding passengers dropped to 1000 in the current week. On January 1, 375 people went to India while 709 returned from the country and on January 2, some people left the country through the port while 864 people returned home from the country. Read: All students to be vaccinated by Jan 31: Dipu Moni On January 3, the number of India-bound passengers was 491 while that of returnees was 611 and on January 4, some 442 people went to India and 639 returned. On January 5, the number of India-bound passengers was 481 while that of the returnees was 597. Port sources said some 18 lakh passengers travel to and from India for different purposes every year. On March 13, 2020, India imposed restrictions on travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it allowed domestic flights from May, 2020, and the entry of foreigners except tourists from October. Abdul Jalil, deputy director (traffic) of Benapole port, said, “The number of passengers travelling to and from India and Bangladesh has dropped significantly. From January 1 to January 5, some 5,687 people traveled between the two countries.” Alarmed by the rising Omicron cases, India's federal government two weeks ago warned states that "the variant is three times more transmissible than the Delta" and directed them to take action to rein in its spread.