That a subvariant of SARS-COV-2, a close relative of BA.286 with its lineage from the Omicron variant, has been detected in Dhaka is concerning. On Friday last as many as 22 people were infected and on Saturday the number dropped to 13. But this is hardly good news for the country. First, the variant JN.1 is known to spread faster than other strains of Covid-19. Second, the first five people found to get JN.1 had no history of travelling outside the country. So there is the temptation to conclude that SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus, has mutated locally. But other possibilities cannot be ruled out. Without local mutation of the virus, the patients may have come in close contact with people who have arrived from abroad and acted as carriers of the disease.
Then there is no way to be sure that the day on which the five were detected to have caught JN.1 was the first time the disease entered Bangladesh. In fact, this is the winter, a time when flu, common cold and other respiratory complications peak up. With the disease more or less receding about two years ago, people no longer feel the urge for doing the Covid test. So a large number of people even do not know they were infected with any of the variants. Not all cases of influenza, cold and respiratory complications are likely to be as they appear because many of the symptoms are common in all these illnesses.
In the US, three viruses SARS-COV-2, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus have raised the spectre of a 'tripledemic' during the fall and winter in recent years. Bangladesh at some point came closer to experiencing a 'doubledemic' with dengue claiming record victims and knocking the highest ever number of people down. Fortunately, the country has been spared an epidemic of cold-related complications. But there is no guarantee such diseases cannot turn epidemic with the presence of JN.1 subvariant in the capital and an industrial area not far from it. This is more so, because people are no longer taking the extra caution needed for their personal protection from the highly contagious virus.
Nothing should be left to chances so that the virus can catch the people off guard. The first task is to launch a comprehensive campaign for making people aware of the do's and don'ts. In fact, the majority of the people now know about what needs to be done or not be done. Only the message of the danger posed by the new variant has to be put across. If people maintain mask wearing in crowded places and closed-door rooms, the first health protocol is complied with. This can protect them from the virus infection if the complementary rules and regulations are routinely observed. Since windows and doors are kept closed these days because of cold weather, this is fundamental to fighting the virus.
Last but not least is the issue of inoculation. Reports have it that 11 per cent of the population could not be brought under any kind of vaccination programme. Then 84 per cent received the second jab, meaning that 16 per cent are still more vulnerable to the virus. Again, only 40 per cent of the population received the third dose and only 3.0 per cent received the fourth dose of vaccine. This means as high as 60 per cent of the population is not well protected against the virus and just 3.0 per cent is supposed to have developed the desired immunity against the virus.
So a vaccine programme should be restarted as soon as possible. At the same time, attempts should be made for procurement of the more advanced version of vaccines now developed in the USA. Such a concerted action can perhaps give the country enough immunity against the SARS-COVE-2 virus.
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