UK Returnees: 7-day quarantine mandatory

Health Minister Zahid Maleque. File photo

Air travellers from the UK without Covid-19 negative certificates would be quarantined for seven days.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque said this yesterday after a new variant of the coronavirus emerged in the kingdom and more countries shut their borders with the UK in an effort to keep the new strain out.

He said discussion on whether to suspend flights to and from the UK was going on. "The decision will be announced soon."

Experts have warned that the new variant, which appears to be more transmissible, could turn the situation in Bangladesh severe if the planned measures were not imposed strictly.

Officials concerned said those without a Covid-19 negative certificate from the UK will be sent to Ashkona or Diabari quarantine camps in Dhaka where they would be tested on the sixth day. They will be released if they test negative.

Passengers landing in Chattogram and Sylhet would go through the same process.

The minister yesterday inaugurated a mobile laboratory for Covid-19 testing at the Ashkona Hajj Camp in Dhaka. There will be Covid-19 testing, RT-PCR and rapid antigen-based, facilities in the lab for the incoming passengers.

Another mobile lab will be taken there soon, the minister said.

At another event in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, State Minister for Civil Aviation M Mahbub Ali said the government was observing the situation closely.

"Apart from our ministry, the foreign ministry, and the health ministry, the Prime Minister's Office is also monitoring the UK issue … Stopping air communication is not a big deal … We will take necessary steps in time."

At the same event, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice-Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said, "Passengers arriving from the UK [in all three international airports] will be screened separately … so that the risk that is being talked about can be mitigated."

Asked what action would be taken in case passengers from the UK transit in another country, the CAAB chairman said, "Airlines have been asked to provide us with the list of passengers in advance who are coming to Dhaka … This will ensure separate health check-ups for them."

MEASURES ADEQUATE?

More than 40 countries have banned UK arrivals because of concerns about the spread of the new variant of coronavirus. Spain, India, and Hong Kong suspended flights from the UK, reports BBC.

Experts said for Bangladesh there was no need to cancel flights from the UK "right now". However, implementation of "a stringent" screening process at airports was important.

"Shutting down flights is the last step to curb transmission. For now, it is more important to maintain stringent screening," Mushtuq Hussain, consultant of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) told The Daily Star last night.

Echoing him, Prof Ridwanur Rahman, an infectious disease specialist, told this newspaper, "The plan is okay. But we are sceptical about how rigorously the plan will be implemented as there have been examples of many such announcements before.

"If the plan is a mere announcement, the problem may turn more severe than that of the previous time," he warned.

DAILY UPDATE

In the 24 hours ending at 8:00am yesterday, 30 more people died from Covid-19 and 1,367 new cases of the novel coronavirus were detected, taking the tally of infections to 504,868.

With the latest figure of deaths, the death toll due to Covid-19 climbed to 7,359 which is 1.46 percent of all confirmed cases.

As another 2,416 patients recovered from the illness, the total number of recoveries rose to 444,345.

As many as 15,932 samples were tested at 161 authorised labs across the country in the same 24 hours, yielding a positivity rate of 8.58 percent.