Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued an alert to all the entry points across the country on Wednesday (Jan 15).
The alert was issued due to Chinese 2019-nCoV (a new strain of corona) virus. The virus already caused the death of two people, and made at least 40 people ill until Saturday (Jan 18), according to the New York Times.
Prof Dr Sanya Tahmina, additional director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued the alert.
Sanya has also warned regarding passengers arriving from China after the outbreak of the coronavirus there.
She further stated that screening facilities have been arranged for passengers coming from China, adding that instructions have been given to ensure that all passengers from China are checked for signs of the new infection with a fever measuring machine.
Health department’s report states, “The World Health Organization (WHO) is already alarmed because of the unknown virus. The disease can enter Bangladesh at any time through international travellers.”
“That’s why careful measures must be taken. The virus has already affected people in Thailand,” it added.
The Chinese authorities said on Sunday (Jan 29) that 17 more people had been infected with this virus, raising questions about how it is being transmitted, and added concerns about the spread of the illness ahead of China’s busiest travel season.
The announcement, by the health commission in Wuhan, a central Chinese city where the virus originated last month, comes amid growing worry among some experts that the outbreak of the illness, the pneumonia-like coronavirus, could be more severe than what China’s government has described.
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