Three-day quarantine mandatory for inbound travellers without vaccine

Any air passenger arriving in Bangladesh with the first dose of the COVID vaccine or no inoculation at all will have to undergo a three-day mandatory institutional quarantine.

According to bdnews24.com, even those with RT-PCR-based COVID negative certificates issued within 72 hours of the flight are not exempted from the rules, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh said in a notice on Saturday.

The circular was issued to inform all airlines about restrictions the government had imposed on air travel in an effort to curb the coronavirus pandemic, CAAB Chairman M Mafidur Rahman said.

These restrictions take immediate effect and will continue until the end of the lockdown on Apr 28, he said, adding that they could be extended further if necessary.

The four restrictions outlined in the notice are:

>> All incoming/outgoing passengers must mandatorily possess a PCR-based COVID-19 negative certificate. The PCR test must be done within 72 hours of the flight departure time.

>> Arriving passengers who have already received two doses of the vaccine and possess an RT-PCR-based COVID negative certificate and proof of vaccination must complete a 14-day home quarantine.

>> Arriving passengers with RT-PCR-based COVID negative certificates, who have the first dose of the vaccine or are not yet vaccinated, are required to complete a mandatory three-day institutional quarantine at government-nominated facilities, or at hotels at the passenger’s own expense. Following the quarantine, a sample will be collected for a PCR test. If the test result is negative the passenger will be released to complete an 11-day home quarantine. If the test is positive, the passenger will have to go for isolation at a government-nominated facility at their own expense.

>> Airlines will only issue boarding passes to those passengers who have both doses of the vaccine after confirming the vaccination doses. For passengers with one dose of the vaccine or none, airlines must confirm that seats are available at government institutional quarantine facilities, or have proof of a hotel reservation where they can complete their institutional quarantine. If seats are not available at the government quarantine facilities, passengers will only be allowed to board the flight after ensuring the confirmation of the hotel reservation.

Bangladesh is enforcing a nationwide lockdown until Apr 28 in an effort to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The CAAB suspended all domestic and international flights during this period.

But special flights were arranged for the travel of migrant workers going to and from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Qatar and Oman.

On Apr 21, the CAAB authorised four airlines to operate special flights to China. It also authorised the operation of a limited number of domestic flights.

The CAAB has also given permission for two airlines to operate passenger flights from Dhaka to Kuwait and Bahrain on Sunday.

However, no flights from Bangladesh are currently going to Oman because the country issued an indefinite ban on travellers from Bangladesh on Apr 24.