Authorities have intensified the screening of people returning from India through Benapole land port in a bid to prevent the spread of a new variant of Covid-19.
Recently, the new cases of Covid have been reported in several Indian states, prompting the government to take precautionary measures.
During a visit to the Benapole Checkpost Immigration, the UNB correspondent observed that officials assigned to the medical desk were rigorously screening incoming travellers.
Hari Das, a passenger returning from India, said, “I went to India for treatment 10 days ago. I returned home today. Like in Bangladesh, there has been no testing or examination for Covid anywhere in India.”
Another traveller, Monika Rani, said, “I returned home today after a month of treatment. I have not heard of any new spread of Covid in India. After coming back to the country, I see that they are conducting Corona tests.”
Abdul Majid, a sub-assistant medical officer at the Immigration Health Department at Benapole Checkpost, said genetic sequencing tests in India have confirmed the spread of a new Covid strain in some regions of the country.
“To ensure this variant does not spread in the country, we are carrying out health checks on all passengers returning from India as a precautionary measure from the health department,” he said.
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Any returning passenger shows the symptoms of Covid-19, they will be kept in isolation at the upazila health complex.
To curb potential infections, health safety protocols, including screening, have been reinforced at all land and international entry points across the country.
On June, the Director of Disease Control at the Directorate General of Health Services issued directives to this effect.
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India has witnessed a sudden rise in Covid cases since late May, more than five years after the virus was first declared a global pandemic.
As of Thursday, there are 5,364 active cases in India, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.