Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday directed 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.
Briefing journalists in the afternoon, Cabinet Secretary Kabir Bir Anwar said the new variant has been detected in four countries, including China, so far.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed everyone to be extremely careful so that it does not spread in Bangladesh, he said.
She directed the local administrations to work to ensure that people follow social distancing and wear masks, he added.
On Monday, four China returnees tested positive for Covid-19 at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and were sent into isolation at the Dhaka North City Corporation Hospital.
The passengers, on a flight from China, landed in Dhaka in the afternoon and showed Covid symptoms during screening at the airport.
They tested Covid-19 positive following antigen tests, airport authorities said.
After confirmation, they were sent into isolation by airport health officials.
Meanwhile, authorities at the Sonamasjid land port have taken additional cautionary measures to prevent the spread of Omicron BF7, a new sub-variant of Covid-19.
Following instructions from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), some additional measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the new sub-variant of Covid-19, said Dr SM Mahmudur Rashid, civil surgeon of Chapainawabganj.
Indian truck drivers and their assistants are being allowed to enter the country through the border after health screening, he added.
Besides, the members of the medical teams are doing their routine work at the port, Rashid said.
Earlier on Sunday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued an alert at airports, land ports, and seaports as the new sub-variant BF7 of Omicron was detected in China and India.
It also asked the authorities concerned to take steps so that people, coming from those countries, go through tests, and digital thermal scanners and thermometers are used at the entry points of the country.
In the 24 hours till Tuesday morning, Bangladesh reported 15 more Covid cases. With the new numbers, the country's total caseload rose to 2,037,046, according to the DGHS.
