Over 100 Bangladeshis return from coronavirus-hit Italy

More than 100 Bangladeshi nationals have returned home from Italy, the European epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.
An Emirates flight carrying the evacuees from Rome arrived in Dhaka`s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport via Dubai on Saturday, according Dr Shahriar Sajjat, a physician at the airport`s health centre.
They will be kept under quarantine at the Ashkona Hajj Camp near the airport for 14 days — the incubation period of the virus, he said.
But Shahriar could not confirm the exact number of returnees from Italy.“I don’t know the exact figure yet. We were informed when the flight was departing from Dubai that there were 125 adults and a one-and-a-half-year old child.
“But we later found discrepancies in the number so there could be more.“
Last month, Bangladesh brought home more than 300 of its nationals from the locked down Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel virus reportedly originated.
They were also kept in isolation at the Ashkona Hajj Camp before being cleared to go home at the end of the 14-day quarantine as none of the returnees showed any symptoms of coronavirus infection. Another 23 Bangladeshis were evacuated from Wuhan with the help of the Indian government on Feb 27.
The coronavirus, which emerged in China in December, has spread to over 100 countries around the world, halting industry, bringing flights to a standstill, closing schools and forcing the postponement of sporting events and concerts.
The outbreak was declared recently described as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
It has infected than 138,000 people globally and over 5,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.
Millions are locked down in Italy — the worst-affected country outside China — where total number of infections have risen to 17,660 with 1,266 deaths. — bdnews24.com