17 returnees from India test positive for COVID-19

Seventeen Bangladeshis returning home from India through the Benapole land port in the past 16 days have tested positive for COVID-19.

Benapole Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 April 2021, 05:51 AM
Updated : 20 April 2021, 06:20 AM

A total of 106 people received the test, said land port community health official Syed Mashiur Rahman.

A total of 8,955 Bangladeshis returned home from India through the Benapole land port in the past 16 days. Of that group, 17 were infected with the coronavirus. Some travellers without RT-PCR negative reports tested positive after their samples were taken. 

Those who tested positive were sent to Jashore Sadar Hospital for treatment, while the other passengers were advised to remain in quarantine at home, said Dr Yusuf Ali, who is assigned to the Sharsha Upazila Health Complex.

Land port immigration police OC Ahsan Habib said that instructions had been given to bar the entry of anyone travelling from Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari, a coastal region, where coronavirus cases spiked. Those travelling from Bangladesh to India were also advised not to travel to Andhra Pradesh, a state in the southeastern coastal region of India.

Under instructions from the Indian government, immigration is closed at all other land ports connecting the two countries.

OC Ahsan told bdnews24.com that entry to India now required a visa issued after July, 2020 and a RT-PCR negative certificate issued within the past 72 hours.

About 85 percent of those making the journey have medical visas, 10 percent have business visas and the rest are travelling on student and diplomatic visas.