“It’s preferable to avoid unnecessary tours to foreign countries as coronavirus has spread to 60 countries of the world…many international events have been cancelled for this,” he said.

The minister came up with the suggestion while talking to reporters at a press briefing on coronavirus and dengue at the secretariat.

Any suspected person who has returned home from abroad or anyone who has fallen sick after their return will be kept in an isolation ward, he said adding that the expatriates at the upazila level have to meet Civil Surgeons and provide their all information to them.

Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital has been kept ready as part of the preparation where there are 20 intensive care units to provide treatment.

The authorities concerned have been instructed to give special attention to those who have returned from Italy, Iran and South Korea, and check their medical certificates, Zahid Malik added.

“There’s nothing to be panicked if coronavirus enters the country as we’ve taken the preparations,” the minister said.

Around one crore Bangladeshi people work abroad and they have to limit their visits to the country except emergencies, Malik insisted.

“Round-the-clock screening is underway at all the ports of the country. So far, 4.18 lakh people have been screened and 100 tested. The virus has already arrived in neighbouring countries, and there’s no certainty that it won’t reach Bangladesh,” he said adding, “We’ve formed three committees in this regard.”

The new virus, first detected in China, has infected more than 89,000 people globally and caused over 3,000 deaths.