Thousands of Bangladeshis set to return to the country

An extremely crucial time lies ahead to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, as roughly 29,000 Bangladeshis are set to return to the country over the next couple of weeks from the Middle East. This huge influx of people could prove disastrous if the authorities fail to ensure strict institutional quarantine for the returnees, a government appointed expert committee has warned.

The number of people infected per day has been rising consistently of late. According to a report prepared by the committee, the outbreak may reach its peak in the third or last week of this month. However, if we are not careful, the sudden return of all these people from abroad could lead to a second wave of coronavirus infections.

The government must prevent such a scenario at all costs. It's decision to send people on home quarantine earlier had quite spectacularly backfired; it must avoid making the same mistake twice. Every returnee should be tested for the virus and institutionally quarantined for at least 14 days, even if they test negative, as the virus could still be in its incubation period.

But quarantining such a huge number of people will be an enormous task. Again, the government must avoid its past blunder of being ill-equipped and unprepared—to avoid a situation where returnees are forced to protest and break out of their so-called quarantine within hours, risking thousands of other lives, as has previously happened.

We call on the authorities to immediately begin all the necessary preparations to receive and strictly quarantine these people in a systematic way. How well the government reacts to this particular challenge could very well decide the future direction of this outbreak.