All eyes on flouters of home quarantine order

Thousands of Bangladeshis, who have returned from abroad, are reportedly flouting home quarantine order and are unknowingly contributing to the spread of coronavirus infection in the country.
The total death toll from coronavirus infection in the country is now three. Three more people have been diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday taking the number of coronavirus cases in the country to 27.
 Most of the cases have travel history and many are Bangladeshi returning from overseas.
Arrivals into Bangladesh from overseas need to follow a 14-day home quarantine order but some of the returnees have openly flouted the measures, raising concerns of loopholes in the system.
Many of them were violating government rule of a mandatory home quarantine by bribing the law enforcing agencies. Police have reportedly visited overseas returnees' homes and permitted them to move freely in exchange of money. Home quarantine was ordered by the government to fight the spread of coronavirus, but many expatriates are reportedly roaming around freely after returning to the country.
Several returnees who had violated the home quarantine order were fined by mobile courts in separate drives across the country.  They had been sent to the government quarantine camps and would face prosecution later.
However, in a densely populated country like Bangladesh where most of the people are either uneducated or not health literate, highly scientific matters like home quarantine or home isolation are difficult to ensure, experts believe.
The government has made 14 days' home quarantine mandatory for anyone arriving in Bangladesh from abroad.
Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora announced this at a press briefing at IEDCR in Mohakhali on Sunday said that three more people have been diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday taking the number of coronavirus cases in the country to 27.
Meanwhile, the number of globally confirmed coronavirus cases rose to more than 300,000 on Sunday. So far, the virus has claimed 13,068 lives -- a mortality rate of 12 per cent, according to Worldometer.
China's coronavirus lockdown strategy was brutal but effective.  China has reported its first day on March 19 with no domestic transmissions of the disease-all newly identified cases had been imported from abroad, health authorities say.
The World Health Organization (WHO) asked Bangladesh to consider imposing a complete or partial lockdown Saturday and declaring an emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus.
The local administration has enforced a complete shutdown in Shibchar municipality and three unions of Shibchar upazila in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus.