Bangladesh is considering chartered flights to bring back the remaining 171 Bangladeshis students from China as the pilots and crew of Biman plane which flew back 312 citizens last week are denied visa by other countries.
"We cannot send our planes and pilots to Wuhan right now, as those pilots and cabin crews who returned from Wuhan are not allowed to enter in other countries,” Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told the media on Monday (Feb 3) after the weekly meeting of the Cabinet.
The civil aviation ministry has been told to arrange for chartered flights to bring back the Bangladeshis, he added.
According to the Cabinet secretary, the prime minister held an emergency meeting after the regular Cabinet meeting at her offices to discuss the coronavirus situation.
"The prime minister has instructed for all-out efforts to ensure that the virus does not break out in Bangladesh. The 312 people flown back from Wuhan have to be quarantined for 14 days," Islam said.
The premier ordered Chinese nationals from Wuhan, who are working in Bangladeshi projects and have gone home on leave, not to be allowed to return, he added. "Their work permits will not be renewed as well."