Bangladesh tightens quarantine rules for travellers from UK

Travellers from the United Kingdom without ‘negative test certificates’ for the coronavirus will have to undergo a seven-day quarantine, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.

The government has taken the measure in a bid to prevent the spread of the new strain of the coronavirus identified in the UK, the minister said at an event in Ashkona on Wednesday.

"We got to know about the new strain of the coronavirus. Those coming from the UK [without COVID negative certificates] must undergo a seven-day quarantine.”

The passengers will be released after the weeklong quarantine and necessary tests are done. Then they will have to complete home quarantine.

The authorities have issued an order to create a separate immigration queue  for the passengers coming from the UK.

“They must stand in the separate queue and complete their immigration formalities. We don’t want a new strain of the pathogen to spread across Bangladesh.”

Currently, a 72-hour quarantine is mandatory for the passengers without COVID negative certificates.

The government will observe the situation before it makes a decision to stop the flights to and from the UK, the minister said.

"We’re working on it and will make a decision soon. We’re discussing it with the foreign ministry and other ministries.”

The discovery of the new variant, just months before vaccines are expected to be widely available, sowed a fresh wave of panic in a pandemic that has killed about 1.7 million people worldwide and more than 67,000 in Britain.

Scientists say there is no evidence that vaccines currently being deployed in Britain - made by Pfizer and BioNTech - or other COVID-19 shots in development will not protect against this variant, known as the B.1.1.7 lineage.

Much of the world shut its borders to Britain after a significantly more transmissible mutated coronavirus variant was discovered spreading swiftly across southern England.

With queues of trucks snaking to the horizon in England and some supermarket shelves stripped just days before Christmas, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled to get French President Emmanuel Macron to lift a ban on freight from Britain.

Late on Tuesday a deal was reached with Paris to allow French and other EU residents to return home, providing they have a negative COVID test that is less than 72 hours old.

Britain said it would begin handing out tests at multiple locations on Wednesday, but cautioned that the process would take time.

Earlier the European Commission advised that non-essential travel to and from Britain should be discouraged but said that people heading home should be allowed to do so, provided they undergo a COVID-19 test or quarantine for 10 days. However, border controls are governed by national policy, so each EU country can have its own rules.

The United Kingdom's effective COVID-19 quarantine came just nine days before it is due to part ways with the EU after a transition period - considered to be one of the biggest changes in post-World War Two British history.

Countries across Europe and beyond have suspended travel from Britain since the weekend. Germany imposed a ban on UK travellers from Tuesday that could remain in place until Jan. 6.

One exception was the United States, which does not intend to impose COVID-19 screenings for passengers from Britain.

Cases of the new strain have also been detected in some other countries, including Denmark and Italy. Experts said the prevalence in Britain might be down to better detection.

With details from Reuters