Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday directed the airports in Bangladesh to start Covid-19 tests due to an increase in the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus in some nearby countries.
Passengers coming from countries where infections have increased, especially China, must be tested, she said in a cabinet meeting at her office.
While briefing journalist in the afternoon, Cabinet Secretary Kabir Bir Anwar said the new variant has been detected in four countries, including China, so far.
Bangla TribunePrime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed everyone to be extremely careful so that it does not spread in Bangladesh, he said.
She directed local administrations to work to ensure that people follow social distancing and wear masks, he added.
On Sunday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) directed all ports -- land, air, and sea -- of Bangladesh to increase screening and precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Omicron BF.7.
It also advised the public to take precautions against Covid-19, including getting vaccinated and wearing masks in crowds, as the new variant of the coronavirus is more contagious than the previous ones.
China has already been battered with the new variant of the virus and cases of the same variant have been detected in India.
The BF.7 Omicron sub-variant's full name is BA5217.
SARS-CoV-2 has evolved since it first emerged in 2019 like any other virus. As it evolved, it acquired a number of mutations, leading to a number of variants.