Bangladesh advise expatriates living in Africa to avoid excessive travel

As the concerns over the Omicron variant rises, Bangladesh's authorities have urged Bangladeshi expatriates in Africa to avoid unnecessary travel to their homeland. Dr AK Abdul Momen, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh stated that they can travel to Bangladesh in the event of an emergency. However, the authority advised them to postpone their trip by a few days. If there isn't a pressing need, as per the reports of the Independent. 

Returnees' decision to come back might not be an ideal one as the Foreign Minister made it plain that as part of the government's response to the new variant, all returnees will be subjected to a 14-day mandatory institutional quarantine, according to the Independent. The message has been issued to Bangladeshis living in South Africa and neighbouring countries, according to Dr Momen. Md Shahriar Alam, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Masud Bin Momen, the Foreign Secretary, were also present when Dr Menon made the announcement.

Bangladesh restricted all travel to South Africa

Recently on Saturday, Bangladesh restricted all travel to South Africa effective, joining a growing number of countries that have banned travel to the country due to concerns about the spread of the new COVID Omicron variant, which was first discovered there. According to bdnews24, Bangladesh's Minister of Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque said that the country is aware of the new variant's appearance and has decided to halt travel to South Africa.

On the other hand, in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday morning, Bangladesh recorded two COVID deaths. the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) stated that in addition, the country had 282 new cases in the last 24 hours, with 383 patients recovering, according to Dhaka Tribune. With the latest additions, the country's death toll has risen to 27,983, the entire caseload has increased to 1,576,566 cases, and the total number of recoveries has increased to 1,541,348.

18,851 samples tested in 848 labs across Bangladesh

In the last 24 hours, a total of 18,851 samples were tested in 848 labs across the country, yielding a 1.5% positive rate, according to Dhaka Tribune. The data revealed that the country's overall COVID mortality rate was 1.77% till Wednesday morning, with an overall recovery rate of 97.77%.

(Image: Twitter/@AKAbdulMomen, Pixabay)