Covid-19: Absence of 3 top men 'hardly' affecting MoFA activities

The activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) are being 'hardly' affected despite its three top officials -- foreign minister, state minister for foreign affairs and foreign secretary -- being out of office due to Covid-19.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen were tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday while State Minister Shahriar Alam got infected with the virus some days ago.

"The functioning of the ministry is not being affected due to the development," Rear Admiral (Retd) Md Khurshed Alam, a secretary of the ministry, told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday morning.

Speaking with this correspondent, several senior officials of the ministry largely concurred with the secretary.

However, they pointed out that even though the overall activities are nearly normal now, problems might arise in the long run.

"None of them have developed any complications so far. They are quite capable of giving us directions from homes and they are doing so," said an official.

"They are working from their homes as many of us do," said another official.

Citing the cancellation of the participation at an OIC event, a third official said, "With time, we may face such problems.'

“We have a bunch of good officials who can lead us, but there must be an impact due to the absence of the three top men," he added.