40 prisoners quarantined, 6 isolation units at jails

The directorate of prisons has opened six division-wise isolation centers inside jails for inmates, to keep any potential coronavirus patient.

The isolation centers are in jails at Kishoreganj, Madaripur, Pirojpur, Sylhet, Feni and Dinajpur, according to a report of the home ministry's special coordination cell.

No coronavirus positive cases were reported from jails until Saturday, but 40 inmates have been kept in quarantine at different jails as precautionary measures, reads the report, signed by Abdul Kadir, a deputy secretary of the ministry.

The country's jails are being kept under strict vigilance to prevent spread of the virus, he said.

Sources at prison directorate said there are around 89,000 prisoners now in 68 jails across the country, against the capacity of 41,244.

Jail officials were instructed to follow necessary health advisory properly, and disinfect hands and shoes and check body temperature regularly before joining duty, reads the report.

On March 25, the home ministry formed the special coordination cell to provide support to law enforcers to prevent coronavirus during the ten-day general holiday from March 26 to April 4.

The tenure of the cell would be increased upon extension of the holiday, Sharif Mahmud Opu, public relations officer of the ministry, told The Daily Star yesterday.

According to the coordination cell report released yesterday, on-arrival visas have been suspended for all foreign nationals until April 15.

No traveller who visited the European Union and Iran after March 1 are allowed to enter Bangladesh till April 15.

However, others with valid visas must provide medical certificates to prove they are Covid-19 negative, while visa applicants must also provide it with their applications. 

With an aim to ensure smooth operation of all development projects during the ongoing situation, Bangladesh has already extended visa validity to all temporary and permanent foreigners involved with the projects upon their application, reads the report.

In a bid to ensure monitoring of home quarantine, information of Bangladeshis who returned from overseas were given to National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC), Directorate General of Health Services and Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

Along with this, the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has issued a special permit for 500-litre rectified spirit for producing and distributing sanitisers. DNC has also issued permit of 22.14 lakh litre rectified spirit to different private institutes, reads the report.

The DNC officials were also instructed to keep close monitoring and increase surveillance so that narcotics dealers do not get any scope to increase their business during this pandemic period.