DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh has reported a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections and virus-related deaths over the past week amid fears of omicron variant spreading throughout the country.

“We calculated a 60% rise in coronavirus infections in the country in the last week, while COVID deaths have seen a significant rise," Dr. Robed Amid, spokesperson for the Directorate General of Health Services, said in an online media briefing on Sunday.

To address the situation, the government has increased sample testing by 20%, he stated.

Amin said infections have been on the rise since Dec. 20, and they have crossed a 2% positivity rate since Dec. 27. The coronavirus caseload peaked at 9,255 in December 2021, up from 6,745 in November, he added.

Amid the rise in positive coronavirus cases, fatalities are increasing as well, he added.

The majority of those who are currently dying of COVID-19 are over 50 years old, while the mortality rate among those aged 41 to 50 years was 11 last month.

As the worldwide situation has worsened, Amin urged strict health safety rules to be maintained.

Women are more likely to be infected and vulnerable to the omicron variant than men, he said, citing the latest research data.

Bangladesh targets an 80% vaccination rate by June 2022, and health workers and people over 60 are being encouraged to receive a booster shot to combat the new variant, Amin said.

Bangladesh on Sunday reported 557 new COVID-19 cases and one death, up from 370 infections on Saturday.

The country has so far reported 28,077 coronavirus-related fatalities, while the caseload has increased to 1.59 million, according to the Health Ministry data.

The South Asian country reported the first two cases of the omicron strain on Dec. 11 in two members of its women's cricket team. According to GISAID, the global database for coronavirus genomic data, the number of omicron cases has now risen to 10 as of last Friday.