On Saturday and Sunday, 383 Bangladeshis returned home from Italy, the worst coronavirus-affected country in Europe.
Among them, 142 returnees from the first batch were sent home while 241 were taken to Ashkona Hajj Camp and a 20-bed hospital in Pubail in Gazipur for quarantine.
A flight of Emirates Airlines landed with 152 Bangladeshis from Italy on Sunday morning. These returnees were sent to quarantine at Ashkona Hajj camp from the airport directly, said Doctor Shahriar Sajjad, in-charge of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport medical team.
On Saturday, 142 Bangladeshis returned from Italy, and all of them were sent home for self-quarantine, said Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) on Sunday.
In the second batch on Saturday, 58 Bangladeshis returned from Italy and were sent to quarantine at Ashkona Hajj Camp, said Shahriar Sajjad.
He said 31 Bangladeshis returned from Italy in the third batch on Saturday. Among them, 14 were sent to quarantine at Meghdubi 20-bed Hospital in Pubail in Gazipur and the rest were sent to Ashkona Hajj Camp.
In the meantime, Bangladesh reported two new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque disclosed the information at an urgent press briefing at State guesthouse Padma at night.
They said Bangladesh suspended on-arrival visas for all countries and snapped both-way travel with Europe until March 31 to keep Bangladesh safe.
Meanwhile, the first three coronavirus patients detected in Bangladesh have recovered fully and been discharged, Prof Flora said Sunday.
When asked why 142 Italy-returnees were sent to home quarantine, she said: “None of them had any coronavirus symptom.”
Death toll from coronavirus or COVID-19 reached 5,436 globally as of Saturday. Besides, 145,810 new cases were reported from around the world, according to worldometer.
source: UNB
