The National Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 has alerted the government and the people to the risks of a fresh surge of infections amid a rise in cases in India and some other countries in Asia and Europe.
The committee on Monday recommended strengthening screening of arrivals from these countries and ensuring that they, including the vaccinated travellers, have a coronavirus-negative certificate, reports bdnews24.com.
Although coronavirus cases are declining in Bangladesh, infections are rising in India and some other countries at an alarming rate, the committee said in a statement on Monday after a meeting on Sunday.
“In this situation, if we don’t become careful, infections may rise in Bangladesh again,” the committee said, calling for steps to ensure masking and physical distancing.
It also recommended measures to ensure the mask rules during shopping and holiday travels during Eid-ul-Fitr.
The committee asked the government to encourage people to wear masks during Taraweeh prayers and Eid congregation through the Islamic Foundation.
The committee’s recommendations have come after Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday advised travellers making plans to visit India to tread cautiously as COVID-19 cases have been surging in that country.
In the last 24 hours to Monday morning, India detected 2,541 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, raising the number of active cases to 16,522.
As India has recently lifted a restriction on tourism, a large number of Bangladeshis have been planning to travel the country during the Eid holidays, as evidenced by the long queues of visa seekers outside the Indian visa centres in Dhaka.