42 UK returnees quarantined in Sylhet
“The passengers were brought to the hotel from Osmani Airport under strict government surveillance of the army and police”
Forty-two passengers, arrived Sylhet from the United Kingdom, have been quarantined following the government's rules.
The first flight after Bangladesh Government's decision on quarantine for UK returnees, arrived in Sylhet Osmani International Airport at 1 pm on Monday carrying 48 passengers from London.
Of these, 42 passengers, hailing from Sylhet, have to stay in quarantine at their own expense in Sylhet.
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The passengers who arrived on the Bangladesh Biman flight have been taken to two hotels - Hotel Star Specific and Holy Gate in the Dargah Gate area of the city.
"The passengers were brought to the hotel from Osmani Airport under strict government surveillance of the army and police," said Assistant Commissioner (Covid-19 and Media Cell) of Sylhet Deputy Commissioner's Office Shamma Labiba Arnab.
She said that two BRTC buses were already at the airport to transport passengers and also all passengers would have to stay in the hotel quarantine at their own expense.
Earlier, all the passengers from the UK left for home from the airport, but this time they did not get the opportunity.
Manager of Osmani International Airport Hafiz Ahmed said, "Everyone who boarded the plane had a negative Covid-19 certificate. However, after landing at the airport, they went under health check and then they were taken to the institutional quarantine."
He said the plane left for Dhaka with the remaining six passengers.
Biman Manager (Sylhet district) Shahnewaz Majumder said: "the flight that arrived in Sylhet on Monday had more than 200 passengers on board. But the rest canceled their tickets for fear of having to stay in quarantine for 14 days at their own expenses."
According to Osmani Airport sources, direct flights arrive at Sylhet Osmani International Airport from London's Heathrow Airport on Monday and Thursday every week.
The last three flights of the airline arrived at Osmani Airport on December 24 with 202 passengers, on December 28 with 202 passengers and on December 31 with 237 passengers.
At the end of the medical examination at the airport, each of those passengers was allowed to go home with instructions to stay in the home quarantine.
On December 28, the Bangladesh government made it mandatory that passengers arriving from the United Kingdom (UK) will have to stay in a 14-day mandatory institutional quarantine to contain the spread of the new strain of Covid-19.
