COVID-negative tests mandatory for air passengers to leave Bangladesh from Jul 23

Air passengers will require coronavirus negative test reports to leave Bangladesh from Jul 23.

The authorities on Saturday also designated 16 government hospitals and organisations for the tests.

An inter-ministerial meeting took the decision last week making it mandatory for all air passengers to take certificates from authorised testing centres as evidence that they do not have coronavirus prior to travels.

It comes amid investigations into scandals over fake COVID-19 test reports.

Italy recently banned passengers from Bangladesh until Jul 31 after finding a number of coronavirus patients on a flight. It also sent back 165 Bangladeshis without allowing them to disembark on Jul 9.

Flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines said on Saturday that the passengers must give samples within 72 hours before a flight and collect the report 24 hours before departure.

They will have to pay fees fixed by the government for the tests and show tickets and passports while giving samples.

They will be charged Tk 3,500 for a test if they give samples at the labs. The fee will be Tk 4,500 if they give samples at home.

Health workers will collect samples at civil surgeons’ offices in the districts where the designated labs are situated.

The passengers will have to remain in isolation after giving samples until the flight.

Of the 16 hospitals and organisations designated for the tests, three are in Dhaka: National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre, Institute of Public Health, and National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine.

Others are outside the capital: Sher-e-Bangla Medical College in Barishal, Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases in Chattagram, IEDCR Field Laboratory at Cox’s Bazar Medical College, Cumilla Medical College, Narayanganj 300 Bed Hospital, Khulna Medical College, Kushtia Medical College, Mymensingh Medical College, Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogura, Rahshahi Medical College, M Abdur Rahim Medical College in Dinajpur, Rangpur Medical College and Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College.