Bishwa Ijtema ground to be prepared as quarantine centre

The Bishwa Ijtema ground in Tongi will be prepared as quarantine centre for people who will be quarantined for coronavirus.

The health and family welfare minister came up with the directive at a meeting of the ministry about preparation to tackle the coronavirus situation in Bangladesh at the ministry's conference room on Wednesday, said a press release.

In the meeting, Minister Zahid Maleque directed the officials concerned to prepare Bishwa Ijtema ground in Tongi alongside some hospitals, including Kuwait Bangladesh Maitree Hospital and Kurmitola General Hospital, if necessary, to keep a large number of people in quarantine due to coronavirus.

He said new corona unit will be set in eight divisions of the country to strengthen information, treatment facilities of coronavirus and monitoring to this end.

The meeting discussed overall situation of the coronavirus of the country and what initiatives will be taken if the coronavirus infected patients increase here.

The health minister also gave some directives as people do not come to Bangladesh from the coronavirus-affected countries at this moment.

Mentioning that some people who travelled abroad are not following quarantine rules, he said all foreign returnees have to stay quarantined for 14 days.

“Otherwise, legal action will be taken against them as per infectious disease control act if anyone does not follow the directive,” he said.

Zahid Maleque also directed the health services division secretary to give directive to administration, police administration and intelligence personnel to play strong role in ensuring the home quarantine of people travelled abroad.