Steps taken all ports over new Covid sub-variant

Staff Reporter :
The government has taken sufficient measures to prevent the new sub-variant of the Covid-19 virus in all air, land and maritime ports across the country.
“The government has adequate preparations to prevent the new Covid-19 variant. We have directed all land, maritime and airports to be alert and check everyone who arrived from the suspected countries where the new variant is found,” Cabinet Secretary Kabir Bin Anwar said it while talking with journalists after the cabinet meeting in the secretariat on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over by the the meeting.
The Cabinet Secretary said that four booths of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has started the checking activities after getting the government’s directives.
“Four people have been taken to isolation so far,” he said.
As China gets battered with a new variant of the coronavirus and cases of the same variant have been detected in India, Bangladesh health officials on Sunday advised the public to take again precautions against Covid-19, including getting vaccinated and wearing masks in crowds.
The national advisory committee on Covid-19 has already been alerted about the new variant, BF7, which is a sub-variant of Omicron.
Sources said that land port authorities have taken additional cautionary measures to prevent the spread of Omicron BF.7, the new sub-variant of Covid-19.
“Following the instruction of the Director General of Health Services some additional measures have been taken to prevent the new sub-variant of Covid-19 at Sonamasjid land port,” said SM Mahmudur Rashid, civil surgeon of Chapainawabganj.
He said that truck drivers came from India and their helpers are being allowed to enter the country through the border only after health screening.
Besides, the members of the medical teams are doing their routine works at the port.
Earlier on Sunday, the Directorate General of Health Services issued an alert at airports, land ports and seaports as the new sub-variant BF.7 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 scanner and thermometer are used at the entry points of the country.
Meanwhile, four returnees from China were sent to isolation after they tested positive for Covid-19 at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Monday (December 26) afternoon.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh reported 15 more Covid cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
With the new numbers, the country’s total caseload rose to 2,037,046, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
However, the official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,439 as no new fatalities were reported.
The daily case test positivity increased to 0.49 percent from Monday’s 0.47 percent as 3,077 samples were tested during the period.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while recovery rate rose to 97.57 percent.