“Coronavirus is not only harming people and their health all over the country but also wreaking havoc on the economy. It seems the government is hardly interested in taking steps to prevent the disease as it’s busy with Mujib Year,” said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
He made the remarks at a press briefing at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office after a meeting of party standing committee members.
Fakhrul feared that coronavirus may spread to Bangladesh as the government is not giving importance to the issue.
"It seems to us that this is the total irresponsibility on the part of the government. The government should have taken proper preparation on priority basis to prevent the virus when it has created a catastrophic situation across the globe,” he observed.
The BNP leader said the government needs to ensure scanning machines in all ports and necessary kits at diagnostic centres for the test of the virus.
He said there should not have any scarcity of musk to prevent the virus.
Fakhrul also said an emergency hospital should have been opened where if virus infected people can be taken for quick treatment.
He said their meeting has decided to distribute leaflets among people to make them aware of coronavirus.
BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku were present at the meeting that began 6pm and ended around 9:30pm.