Epidemiological comparison of the first and second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Dhaka, Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study among suspected cases

Many countries have been seen two wave patterns of reported cases of coronavirus diseases. Still, a limited number of studies compared the epidemiological attributes of the first wave and second wave of coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. This study was carried out to compare the epidemics of two waves in Bangladesh. This observational study data of suspected cases was collected from June 2020 to April 2021 from a local authorized diagnostic center. From June 27, 2020, to July 27, 2020, was considered as the first wave and from March 20, 2021, to April 20, 2021, was considered a second wave. This period was determined because of observing the highest number of positive cases during that period. Out of 21,359 cases, including 2429 (11.37%) individuals in the first wave and 4989 (23.36%) individuals in the second wave had RT-PCR test for disease confirmation. Among them, 315 people in the first wave and 630 in the second wave were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Male were more vernalized to the positive case, including 204 (64.8%) and 421 (66.8%) during the first and second waves, respectively. People under 41 found 56.2% positive cases during the first wave while it was 65.6% in the second wave. We also found 128 positive cases among international travelers. In conclusion, a large extent of different epidemiological attributes was found in the second wave compared to the first wave of the outbreaks.