Dhaka: Bangladesh has detected its first cases of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, according to a top health official.
The variant, named B.1.617, was detected in two people screened at a hospital in Dhaka, Nasima Sultana, additional director general of the country’s health directorate, said at a press briefing here on Saturday.
Bangladesh detected the cases of the highly infectious coronavirus variant weeks after imposing a ban on the entry of travellers from India via land ports, reports Xinhua news agency.
Amid its second wave of the pandemic, Bangladesh on April 25 imposed the ban from April 26 on the entry of travellers from India via land ports.
The air travel between the two countries was suspended from April 14 following the worsening Covid situation in India.
Bangladesh reported 1,285 new confirmed cases and 45 new fatalities on Saturday, bringing its total tally to 772,127 with 11,878 deaths.
The official data showed that 14,703 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.
The total number of recovered patients in the country rose to 706,833, said Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Health Services.
According to the official data, the Covid-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is currently 1.54 per cent and recovery rate is 91.54 per cent.
