In the wake of the new coronavirus variant Omicron, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said around 240 people, who returned from Africa last month, remained traceless and the government has been trying to locate them.
The health minister came up with the remarks while attending a press briefing at the secretariat in the afternoon.
New Covid-19 variant, Omicron which was recently detected in South Africa, is more dangerous than the delta variant, Zahid Maleque said, adding that ‘The government is alert to curb the transmission of the new variant.”
“But unfortunately, 240 people have returned from Africa last month and all of them are still traceless, even their cell phone numbers are also off.”, the minister said.
The government is discouraging travellers to come from African countries, he said, adding that “Besides, maintaining 14-day strict quarantine will be mandatory for the Africa returnees.”
“I will instruct the authorities to monitor all the returnees of foreign countries.”, he added.
Letter will be sent to every district directing to strengthen security in bordering areas and all kind of social and political programmes will be held in limited scale, the minster stated.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the Omicron coronavirus variant poses a high risk of infection surges around the globe.
The variant could lead to severe consequences in some regions, the WHO said on Monday.
The variant was detected in South Africa earlier this month with initial evidence suggesting it has a higher re-infection risk. South Africa has been praised for its prompt reporting of the variant.
"Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic," the WHO said.
The new variant has prompted the UK, EU and US to issue a travel ban on Southern African countries - a decision criticised by South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, reports BBC.
Japan has announced it is closing its borders to new foreign visitors from midnight on Tuesday, while Australia has paused its long-awaited plan to ease border restrictions.
Travel into Australia for international students and "skilled workers" holding visas was meant to re-start on Wednesday but has now been delayed until 15 December.
Israel has also banned foreigners from entering the country.
