Coronavirus may strike the country at any time, as the global situation worsens, but there is nothing to panic.
Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) made the disclosure while speaking at a regular press briefing on coronavirus update at the IEDCR conference room in the capital on Saturday.
Noting that due to suspicious symptoms, three people have been kept in isolation, she said, “Till now we have collected samples of 111 people from the country, but none of them has tested positive. However, those who returned to the country after visiting infected countries or have approached affected patients, have been found with some similar symptoms, and kept in isolation”.
“From February 21 till today we have kept 48 people in isolation and tested their samples”, she added.
Flora advised those returnees to avoid the mass transport, and if anyone has respiratory problems to communicate with nearby hospitals or call IEDCR emergency immediately.
The epidemic virus till now has spread to around 90 countries including neighboring India and Bhutan. The government itself is taking massive preparations to prevent the spread of the virus in the country. However, due to some unawareness, all the government efforts may go in vain.
It is to be noted that the authority concerned setup three detector machines at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), two of which have already been damaged.
Private air operations are still continuing to China. On the other hand, as the Kuwaiti government decided to tighten controls on flights to and from countries due to the virus outbreak, the national flag carrier of the country Biman Bangladesh Airlines has canceled its two scheduled flights to Kuwait in March 7 and March 10.
A press release from the civil aviation and tourism ministry confirmed on Saturday.
According to a Kuwaiti cabinet statement, the cabinet held an emergency meeting on Friday under the chairmanship of Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, during which it decided to suspend for one week all flights to and from Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
Kuwaiti health department informed that until Friday, 58 people had been infected with coronavirus there.
The number of cases from the new coronavirus has topped 100,000 worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) called the spread of the virus "deeply concerning" as a wave of countries reported on Saturday their first cases of the COVID-19 disease, which has now killed nearly 3,500 people and infected more than 100,000 across 92 nations and territories.
