Bangladesh has to pay dearly for it
Deputy leader of the opposition and Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader yesterday told parliament that the nation would have to bear the brunt of Regent Hospital's Covid-19 test scam as various countries have already banned Bangladeshis from entering their territories.
"We have been affected on a personal level due to fake certificates of Covid-19 test. But Bangladesh as a state has been affected much more," he said.
He came up with the remarks during the 8th budget session of 11th parliament yesterday as Italy, Japan and South Korea put restrictions on Bangladeshi passengers in the last two days.
Earlier On Wednesday, Italian authorities did not allow 125 Bangladeshi passengers to enter the country.
Several passengers were tested positive for Covid-19 after they landed in different countries, although they had documents certifying they had tested negative for the virus, he said.
"Several countries have banned landing of flights carrying Bangladeshi passengers in their countries. It can be said that we are on the verge of becoming alone in this world," said the deputy opposition leader.
He said the health ministry got more than three and a half months after the first Covid-19 case was detected in China, but they didn't do anything remarkable during this time to increase health care facilities and tackle the virus.
He said reducing the death from coronavirus would have been possible had the health department taken timely action.
"The health department was inactive when they should have played an active role," he said, adding that a lack of coordination in health ministry's activities has been evident since the beginning of the outbreak.
Pointing to the Regent Hospital scam, GM Quader questioned how a hospital that didn't have any facilities to test Covid-19 and treat Covid-19 patients got approval from the respective authorities of the health department.
Lambasting Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), GM Quader asked what they did to monitor the activities of Regent and other hospitals after giving them permission to test Covid-19 and treat Covid-19 patients.
"So far, we know, they [the DGHS] didn't take any timely actions against the misdeeds and corruption [of Regent Hospital] in the name of providing health services," he also said.
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