Bangladesh designs three-level alert system to stop coronavirus outbreak

The authorities have designed a three-level alert system to prevent a possible coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh as the new virus called COVID-19 has spread to 39 countries and regions from China.

The Ministry of Health, the Directorate General of Health Services and the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR have jointly drafted the system.

IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora said on Wednesday that the first will be an initial alert level when no coronavirus case is reported.

“We are currently undergoing this level,” she said.

The authorities will switch to the second level if some people infected with COVID-19 come from abroad, Flora said.

The next level will be in place if the number of coronavirus cases increases, the chief of the government’s disease control agency said.

“We have not left any loopholes in the measures to prevent the virus. We hope no such situation will arise in Bangladesh,” she said.

“We believe that the disease will not spread quickly [if it reaches Bangladesh] as we are taking integrated measures,” Flora said.

The authorities also have sufficient kits for coronavirus tests, she said.

Flora said no one of the 312 Bangladeshis evacuated from China’s Wuhan showed symptoms in the 10 additional days of observation, which ended on Tuesday, following a 14-day quarantine.

The condition of five Bangladeshi coronavirus patients in Singapore and another in the UAE remains unchanged, she said.

Besides China, infections have been reported in Italy, Iran, South Korea, Afghanistan, and Oman, Flora said.

“We are keeping in touch with the Bangladeshis in Singapore, Iran, South Korea and Italy considering the current situation in those countries, she said.

The IEDCR director requested all to be careful and get screened while travelling to or from the countries hit by the virus.