The government has been served with a legal notice to initiate measures on broadcasting special programs with specialist doctors to stop the spread of coronavirus and debunk rumors involving the global outbreak.
Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Moniruzzaman Lincon sent the notice to the secretaries of the health and information ministries on Sunday (Mar 22).
The notice said that special measures were needed as there has been a public outcry despite various measures taken to prevent the outbreak at private and public levels.
"Coronavirus is so new and the impact of this virus on the body is unknown to the common people, panic has been spreading very rapidly. Due to lack of proper understanding of the corona virus, the disease and its spread is currently being interpreted in various ways, including social media, creating confusing and panic among the people," the notice said.
“And since the general public has the highest regard for what doctor says and their opinion on medicines, it was important on how people can get services they need at home combat the outbreak through various channels, including both public and private media, through specialist doctors,” it added.
The legal notice asked the respondents to take immediate steps to broadcast special programs in all electronics media within 7 days from the date failure to do which lead to a writ petition to be filed with the High Court.