Staff Reporter :
A total of 186 more Bangladeshi nationals returned home from Italy on Sunday, taking the total number of returnees from the worst coronavirus-hit country in Europe to 417 in the last two days.
Sources at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said the Bangladeshis who returned today on two flights were sent to Hajj Camp at Ashkona on completion of their screening at the airport.
Of them, 152 came back on a flight of Emirates Airlines in the morning while 34 others on another Emirates Airlines flight around 4:34pm, said Dr Shamima, duty doctor at the airport health centre.
On Saturday, 231 Bangladeshi expatriates returned home from Italy in three batches.
Of them, 142 allowed to go back to home on condition that they would remain in quarantine at their respective houses while the rest 89 were sent to the Ashkona Hajj Camp and a 20-bed hospital in Pubail of Gazipur for quarantine.
With Sunday’s 186, the number of quarantined Bangladeshi expatriates under the government supervision has reached 275.
Replying to a query, Dr Shamima said the decision about the 275 returnees, who are now in the Hajj Camp and the Gazipur hospital, might be taken after Monday noon.
On Saturday, 142 Bangladeshis returned from Italy in the first batch while
58 more in the second bath and 31 others came back in the third group.
Of the 31 Bangladeshis, 14 were sent to quarantine at the Gazipur hospital and while the rest to the Hajj Camp.
Bangladesh on Saturday reported two new coronavirus cases.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque disclosed the information at an urgent press briefing at state guesthouse Padma at night.
They said Bangladesh suspended on-arrival visas for all countries and snapped both-way travel with Europe until March 31 to keep Bangladesh safe.
Meanwhile, the first three coronavirus patients detected in Bangladesh have recovered fully and been discharged.
The death toll from coronavirus or COVID-19 has reached 6,069 globally as of Sunday evening.
A total of 162,588 cases were reported from around the world, according to worldometer.
