“We’re fully ready but we can’t bring them (Bangladesh citizens) until Chinese government allows us,” he told reporters after attending a programme in the city.
The Foreign Minister said the government remains cautious but not panicked. “We don’t want to create any panic.”
Meanwhile, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam urged the Bangladesh citizens in China to strictly follow the Chinese government’s instructions without any deviation until the quarantine period of 14 days ends, saying almost seven days of that period passed by.
In a Facebook post for the worried persons on Tuesday, he urged the families and relatives in Bangladesh to convey the message to their relatives living in China and encourage them to follow the instructions.
Quarantine is a state, period or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed.
He said the health-related instructions will have to be followed to make sure that coronavirus does not get transmitted by anybody and for the sake of life though normal life is being hampered.
The state minister said the registration process for those who are willing to return from China has already started. He said the government will be able to determine the number of possible returnees soon and the aircraft having the exact capacity.
On Monday night, the Foreign Minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed all concerned to bring back Bangladeshi citizens, willing to return from China, after at least 14 days as the Chinese government will not allow anybody to leave before that.
"The government has made all the arrangements and arranged a C-130 flight. However, as the Chinese government won’t allow anyone to leave at least for 14 days, (as a precaution to identify the virus), we’ll bring them after at least 14 days," he told UNB.
China refused to allow anyone, including students of the USA, India and Sri Lanka, to leave their residences for at least 14 days, Dr Momen said.
Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister said they discussed the issue in the cabinet and kept an aircraft ready to bring back Bangladesh citizens who are willing to return.
He said the government is in touch with the students there and established a group communication.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing has opened a hotline number + (86)-17801116005 for Bangladeshis.
There are about 400-500 Bangladeshi students in Wuhan, according to the Foreign Ministry here.
Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing has set up an email group of 245 so far. It has also set up a 24/7 hotline.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, is at the centre of the outbreak. Wuhan is in lockdown and China has imposed travel bans on a number of other cities.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said there is nothing to worry about coronavirus as no such patient has been detected in Bangladesh yet.
“We’re working so that the virus cannot enter Bangladesh,” he said adding that the government is fully ready to face the situation even if the virus infects anyone.
Chinese researchers have selected 30 existing drugs, biologically active natural products and traditional Chinese medicines which may have therapeutic effects on the novel coronavirus for further tests, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), reports Xinhua from Beijing.
A joint research team of scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the CAS and ShanghaiTech University is searching for drugs to combat the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which has claimed 106 lives and infected 4,515 people nationwide in China as of the end of Monday.
Researchers from ShanghaiTech University, led by Rao Zihe and Yang Haitao, revealed Sunday the high-resolution crystal structure of the viral main proteinase (Mpro) of the novel coronavirus.
The Mpro, which controls the activities of the coronavirus replication complex, is an attractive target for therapy.