Amid a fresh surge in coronavirus cases fuelled by highly transmissible Omicron variant, the health authorities are putting emphasis on strict adherence to health guidelines instead of imposing any lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

“We’re now observing the coronavirus situation. Given the intensity of the spike in coronavirus infections, the rate of hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients and deaths from the virus has not been increased that much. We’re emphasising on maintaining safety protocols strictly instead of imposing any lockdown to tackle the situation,” Prof Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general (Planning and Research) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told the Daily Sun.

Dr Flora, also member secretary of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, further said, “We’re trying to avoid imposing lockdown as it has negative impacts on the country’s economy. However, any decision will be taken considering on the situation.”The DGHS sources said though the government has already imposed several restrictions, including limiting the number of people in social gatherings and shutting educational institutions, the national committee is not recommending imposition of any lockdown.

The health authorities think though the spike in coronavirus cases is a matter of concern, the situation is yet to turn risky as the numbers of hospitalisations of the Covid-19 patients and the deaths from the virus are comparatively less.

The health experts feared that the daily number of infections may increase further and the daily infection   rate may also rise to around 40 percent within two weeks if the current trend continues.

They, however, said if the number of infections and daily positivity rate rise further, it will not be risky if the hospitalisation and death rate remains unchanged.

According to the DGHS, the daily coronavirus infection rate had been hovering over 30 percent for the last five consecutive days as 33.37 positivity rate was reported on Friday, 31.92 percent on Thursday, 31.64 percent on January 26, 32.37 percent on January 25 and 31.29 percent on January 24.

It said the number of coronavirus cases and the daily infection rate are increasing as the number of infection rose to 15,440 while the infection rate reached 33.37 percent on Friday against 9,500 and 25 percent respectively on January 19.However, there are comparatively less deaths from the virus than the infections as 20 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours till Friday while 15 on Thursday, 17 on January 26, 18 on January 25 and 15 on January 24.

The National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 has recommended that the government shut the ongoing Dhaka International Trade Fair being held at Purbachal on the outskirts of the capital to arrest the corona infections.

"The committee suggests the government should be stricter in enforcing restrictions to curb the spread of the virus," its President Dr Mohammod Shahidullah told reporters on January 25.

Amid the fresh surge in coronavirus cases, the government on January 21 imposed fresh five-point restriction, including shutting educational institutions for two weeks and limiting the number of people in social gatherings, to curb the spread of the virus.

The government earlier imposed 11 restrictions which came into effect on January 13 to prevent the fresh surge of the coronavirus cases.

Talking to the Daily Sun, Prof Dr Nazrul Islam, a member of the national committee, said, “Lockdown won’t be effective in our country to fight coronavirus as people don’t maintain restrictions properly. The lockdown also affects our economy. Instead of imposing lockdown, we’re emphasising on maintaining health rules, including wearing masks and washing hands, to chase away corona.”

He further said instead of imposing any lockdown, the government should increase the capacity for coronavirus tests and bring maximum people under tests to isolate the patients.

Dr ASM Alamgir, principal scientific officer of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said, “Lockdown won’t bring any benefit to curb the corona infections. Rather, we’re giving importance to strict enforcement of health rules.”

If people follow the precautionary measures and get vaccinated against Covid-19, the deadly pathogen can be prevented, Dr Alamgir, also a noted virologist of the country, added.

On June 28 last year, the government imposed nationwide strict lockdown for seven days to curb the spread of coronavirus as the daily infection rate had jumped to 21.22 percent.

However, the number of daily deaths from the virus was over 100 during the time.

The lockdown was later extended for several times until August 10.