A special flight is set to bring back 361 Bangladeshi nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of a deadly coronavirus outbreak.
They will arrive in Dhaka on Friday night and will then be kept under 14-day observation at the Ashkona Hajj Camp. Police and army personnel will be deployed to the camp for security.
Health minister Zahid Malik has called for patience from the families of the returnees during the observation period and urged them to hold back from meeting when they arrive in Dhaka.
The government will provide regular updates on their condition, he added.
He was addressing a media briefing on the government's plans to evacuate citizens stranded in Wuhan alongside foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and state minister for disaster management and relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday.
During the observation period, those who will not show symptoms of the infection will be allowed to return home while those who fall sick will be admitted to hospital for proper medical treatment, said Zahid.
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight will leave Dhaka for China on Friday evening, he added, without specifying when it will land in Wuhan, bdnews24.com reported.
Addressing the families of the returnees, the minister said: “Please don’t be restless to meet them. We’ll provide information about them from time to time. We have made the necessary arrangements for that."
“We’re completely ready to bring back our students. They are the citizens of this country and it is our duty to look after them. At the same time, it is our duty to ensure that they don’t spread the infection in case they’re already infected. We’ve taken necessary precautions to ensure our country and its people remain safe.”
The returnees include 19 families, 18 children and two infants, according to the foreign minister.
“We need to handle them sensitively and keep them quarantined. Their families should not meet them. We’re not aware if anyone among them is sick. A vaccine for the virus is yet to be developed,” he added.
Although Bangladesh has not stopped flights to China, Momen nevertheless discouraged people from travelling to China for the time being.
