DGHS orders list of all China returnees in last 14 days amid virus fears

The Directorate General of Health Services has directed local authorities to draw up a list of all returnees from China in the last 14 days amid the outbreak of a fatal coronavirus.

Deputy commissioners, police superintendents and civil surgeons have been asked to prepare the list in their respective districts, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR said in a statement on Wednesday.

 The decision was taken at a meeting of the DGHS headed by its Director General Prof Abul Kalam Azad on Tuesday, the statement said.

"Civil surgeons were informed about the overall situation of the coronavirus outbreak and were given instructions on how to prevent the infection from spreading at the meeting. They were also directed to inform health officials about the matter,” IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora said in the statement.

The authority also briefed the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh and  Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce on travel to China.

Airport authorities have not identify any case of the virus in Bangladesh after screening 3,348 passengers as of Wednesday, according to the IEDCR statement said.

The IEDCR received 53 calls on its hotline as of now – nine of which were related to the coronavirus.

No case of the coronavirus infection has been diagnosed so far.