147 Italy returnees in quarantine at Hajj camp

The 147 people who returned to Bangladesh on Friday after the Italian authorities barred them from entering their country have been sent to institutional quarantine at the capital's Ashkona Hajj Camp.

After arriving at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a Qatar Airways flight in the morning, they were sent to quarantine after completing all immigration procedures.

Group Captain HM Touhid-ul-Ahsan, director of the airport, said the returnees have been handed over to the health directorate after they underwent regular health check-ups.

The health directorate has sent them to the Hajj camp for a 14-day quarantine.

Mostafa Kamal, in charge of the Ashkona quarantine centre, told the media no symptoms of Covid-19 had been found on any of the passengers. Doctors will decide whether or not the returnees will be tested for Covid-19.

An additional superintendent of immigration police at the airport told The Business Standard that after their arrival, some of the returnees shouted at the health department officials and argued with the authorities concerned.

Seeking anonymity, one of them who is a restaurant worker in Italy, told The Business Standard that they went through a traumatic and exhausting experience during the journey.

"Italian authorities treated us like animals and did not allow us to enter. Our health authorities' negligence is the sole cause of all this," he added.

"We have spent a lot of money on air fare. Moreover, we are not sure if we can retain our jobs. Who will recover the losses?"

On July 6, the Italian authorities claimed several passengers of a chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines had tested positive for Covid-19 in Rome.

Later on July 8, the Italian Ministry of Health banned all flights from Bangladesh and Bangladeshi passengers until October 5.