Govt mulls halting international flights if Covid cases spike abroad further

Bangladesh government is mulling about halting international flights again if the coronavirus situation worsens in other connecting countries.

"The decision on flight shutdown on international routes will be taken after observing the fresh wave of coronavirus abroad," Foreign Minister (FM) AK Abdul Momen said, reports Somoy TV.

The minister also said that, those who are returning from abroad with a Covid-19 negative certificate, will also be tested at the airports here. 

Foreign Minister came up with the remark in response to a query from reporters after a programme at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday noon.

Earlier, PM Sheikh Hasina and other ministers have advised countrymen to be prepared for the second wave of Coronavirus outbreak that likely to hit the country in the upcoming winter.

Experts say if proper measures are not taken to control the infection, the second wave of the virus will be harder to deal with.

In the past one week till 1 November, infections rose by about 2% from the previous week. And experts say if cases rise for a second straight week, we can say the second wave has begun.

In the last 24 hours till Monday at 8am, Bangladesh recorded 2,139 cases of Covid-19  the highest figure in the last 71 days, raising the alarm of a further rise in this deadly virus in the country.

The country's death toll from the virus now stands at 6,215 and the number of coronavirus cases stands at 434,472 till Monday.

The country's maiden cases were reported on March 8 this year and the first death from the virus was reported on March 18.

The world has entered in the tenth month of the pandemic. At the time of writing, the virus has infected more than  55,390,519 people and close to 1,333,042 people died.