The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Monday issued a 15-point guideline to prevent the spread of the highly contagious new African Covid-19 variant, Omicron.
In a notification, signed by DGHS Director of Disease Control Prof Dr Nazmul Islam, the 15-point guideline was issued to provide an overall instruction to the people and relevant organizations to tackle the disease.
The guidelines are as follows:
- Strengthening of medical tests and screening of passengers arriving from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and other new variant infected countries declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) should be ensured.
- All types of public gatherings (social/political/religious/others) have to be discouraged.
- People must follow all essential health rules including wearing face masks while going outside the house.
- Limiting dining facilities at restaurants should be ensured.
- Limiting people's gathering at different places including tourist spots, recreation centre, resort, community centre, cinema hall/ theatre hall and social programmes should be ensured.
- Health rules must be maintained at all places of worship, including mosques.
- Health rules must be maintained at public transports.
- Passengers arriving from the infected countries have to be kept for a 14-day quarantine.
- All educational institutions (madrasah, pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher secondary and universities) and coaching centres must maintain health rules.
- Healthcare professionals and health service recipients must follow heath guidelines strictly.
- The vaccination programme must be conducted maintaining health rules.
- People with suspected coronavirus cases, positive patients and other people who have come in close contact with Covid-19 patients have to be kept in quarantine.
- The suspected Covid-19 people have to be kept in quarantine as well as they have to be brought under testing facility.
- Wearing face masks must be made mandatory at offices besides maintaining other health rules.
- Publicity campaign has to be launched to create awareness among people about health guidelines to prevent and control the spread of the deadly virus.
