Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader’s bench came up with a six-point directive as prices of masks, hand wash and sanitisers shot up abnormally following the detection of first coronavirus patients  in Bangladesh on Sunday.

The infected patients include two men and a woman, and all of them have been kept in quarantine.

In its directives, the HC said the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) should make positive comments so that panic does not spread.

IEDCR should focus on raising awareness about the virus and inform people about what is needed to be done, it noted.

The government should also explain steps it has taken in the country to control the disease, HC added.

Awareness programmes should be advertised in print and electronic media in such a way so that it catches attention, the court said.

It directed the authorities concerned to ensure that Bangladeshi expatriates and workers going abroad get health certificates without hassle. The court asked checking such certificates at airports for people coming from abroad.

On March 5, the HC directed Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to submit a report explaining government measures that have been taken to prevent coronavirus from spreading.

Advocate Humayun Kabir also filed a writ petition on Monday seeking details on government measures. The court fixed April 5 for the next hearing.

Meanwhile, death toll from coronavirus, which was first reported in China, climbed to 3,830 as of Sunday.

It has infected 110,071 people globally and so far, 62,280 patients (94 percent of total infected) made recovery.

COVID-19 has spread to 109 countries and territories around the world, including Bangladesh, and one international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harboured in Yokohama, Japan).

On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a Global Public Health Emergency.