DGHS issues set of guidelines to prevent Omicron

As governments worldwide have begun pulling down the shutters to contain the new coronavirus variant Omicron, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Bangladesh has announced a set of guidelines to control and prevent the variant.

Those are -  

• Ensuring proper health checkup and screening of passengers arriving from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Estonia, Lesotho and other countries, those are infected with Omicron
• Discouraging all kinds of social, political, religious and other gatherings
• Wearing masks properly outside
• Restaurants should allow customers half of their capacity
• Tourist spots, recreation centres, resort, community centres, cinema/theatre halls and other programmes including marriage, birthday, picnic and party, should operate at 50% of their capacity or less
• Health guidelines should be maintained at mosques and other places of worship
• Proper hygiene rules must be followed on public transports
• Passengers coming from infected countries must be placed in 14-day quarantine
• Health rules should be followed at all educational institutions
• Healthcare workers and receivers must wear masks at all sorts of medical centres and maintain hygiene rules 
• Vaccination campaigns should be conducted in compliance with healthcare guidelines 
• Meanwhile, those with Covid symptoms and the people who came in contact with them have to be isolated and quarantined respectively 
• Coordinating with local authorities to isolate suspected Covid-19 patients showing symptoms and test their samples 
• Masks should be worn by employees at all public and private offices and hygiene rules should be followed while carrying out official tasks 
• To raise awareness for wearing masks and following healthcare guidelines, using loudspeakers for promotion, even those that are in use at mosques, temples and pagodas. Local government officials and elected public representatives can be involved to run awareness campaigns

Earlier in the day, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended banning travellers from the countries, where Omicron has been detected.

The committee also advised to strengthen the healthcare systems and limit gatherings at political, social and religious programmes.

Screening should be ensured at every port of entry, and health guidelines must be maintained at schools and colleges, NTAC said recommending free Covid test for all.

Several countries are scrambling to contain the spread of Omicron and have banned flights from South African countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday Southeast Asian countries must scale up surveillance, strengthen health and social measures and enhance vaccination coverage as several countries across the world rushed to contain Omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus that has the potential to be more resistant to vaccines.