Ports instructed to be cautious about Omicron: DGHS

Instructions have been given to all ports to take necessary steps against the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, said Nazmul Islam, spokesperson of the Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS), today.

"A meeting of the National Technical Advisory Committee is underway. They are reviewing the Covid-19 situation in different countries," Nazmul Islam added.

Decision will be taken after the meeting for the sake of the country, he said further.

Nazmul Islam suggested all to follow hygiene rules.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday declared the new coronavirus variant to be "of concern" and many countries have slapped travel restrictions on various African nations.

Following nations that reacted with alarm to the highly mutated new coronavirus variant, Bangladesh has moved to suspend air travel with South Africa, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday.  

Besides, the minister said all the inbound passengers will have to go through health screening at all land and air ports in Bangladesh.  

Zahid Maleque also said the district level authorities have been instructed to strictly enforce virus safety guidelines, and to be cautious about people who came to Bangladesh from foreign countries recently.   

The new variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa last week and has so far been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.

Britain, Germany and Italy detected cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new steps to contain the virus, while more nations imposed restrictions on travel from southern Africa.

The discovery of the variant has sparked global concern, a wave of travel bans or curbs and a sell-off on financial markets on Friday as investors worried that Omicron could stall a global recovery from the nearly two-year pandemic.