UK variant is here since January

The UK variant of coronavirus, also known as N501Y.V1, has been found in Bangladesh, health officials told The Daily Star last night.

Prof Tahmina Shirin, director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said, "We found five or six cases of the UK mutation of the virus in early January."

ABM Khurshid Alam, director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), yesterday said, "Contact tracing is going on to find out the details of the spread in the country."

Sources at the DGHS said the first case was found on January 5. The person infected had travelled to the country from the UK. Similar cases were also found in Dhaka and Sylhet too.

The DGHS DG stressed on quarantining people coming from the UK or else it could be difficult to contain community transmission.

According to the World Health Organisation, 83 countries have reported cases of the strain.

Scientists say the UK variant is more contagious.

Mushtaq Hossain, an adviser to the IEDCR, said it would be difficult to conclude now that the new variant was behind the recent rise in the positivity rate. Genome sequencing should be done to find out if this variant was behind the rise.

"It is expensive but the government should do genome sequencing at regular intervals to see if the virus was mutating," he added.

Asked about the UK variant, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said people care little about physical distancing and wearing masks and that's why the infection rate is getting high.

"Controlling mechanism for all the variant is the same. We have to maintain physical distancing, wash hands regularly, wear masks, and avoid crowds. If we follow these health rules, we may beat the virus," he added.

The UK government published a report in February on the variant saying that the new strain may be up to 70 percent more deadly than previous strains.

After the first being detected in September, it quickly became the dominant variant in the UK.

A report of New York Times published in late February said British government scientists were increasingly finding the UK variant to be linked to a higher risk of death than other versions of the virus. It also said the UK variant is linked to an increased risk of hospitalisation.

The report said according to estimates of scientists, the variant was being transmitted 35 to 45 percent more easily than other variants in the United States.