Foreign minister criticises Italy returnees for creating chaos
“They were asked to stay in quarantine for the betterment of the country. The government has already given all kinds of facilities to them”
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has criticised the Italy returnees as they created a chaos when they were asked to go into 14-day quarantine at Ashkona Hajj camp yesterday.
"They were asked to stay in quarantine for the betterment of the country. The government has already given all kinds of facilities to them," the minister said in a seminar at the Bangladesh Institute of International Strategic Studies auditorium in the capital today.
"Their food was provided from the motel of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation, but some of them might have expected meal from any higher quality star hotel, which could not be afforded by the government," he added.
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On March 14, there was a chaos at Ashakona Hajj Camp in the capital after some of the 142 Italy returnees refused to stay in quarantine. Additional police were deployed in the quarantine centre when some of them tried to leave the camp.
"Some expatriates even went up to the gate of the camp to leave the quarantine. However, police made them return to the camp," Noor-e-Azam, officer-in-charge of Airport police station told The Business Standard.
The returnees arrived at Dhaka airport around 8am on a flight of Emirates Airlines on March 14.
"They were found in good health after the initial test at Ashkona Hajj Camp. Their samples have been collected for further test," said Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora said at a regular press briefing in Dhaka today.
Afterwards, they were released from the quarantine with the advice of staying in home quarantine.
