FBD Desk:

Saudi Arabian Airlines was fined Tk 2 lakh for carrying passengers to Dhaka without Covid-19 negative certificates.Hazrat  Shahjalal International Airport Director (Security) Group Captain AHM Towhid-ul-Ahsan said an executive magistrate of a mobile court fined the airline.

A physician of Airport Health Desk told  UNB that a flight of Saudi Airlines with 254 passengers came from Riyadh at 7:40 pm on Tuesday but none of them had Covid-19 negative certificate.

Another fight of Saudi Airlines brought another passenger without the negative certificate on Monday, he said.

Earlier on December 13, Malaysia-based airline Air Asia was also fined Tk 1 lakh for bringing a Covid-19 positive passenger at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The government has decided to suspend the flight operation of airlines that will carry passengers without Covid-19 negative certificates as part of its initiative to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman told UNB that they have asked all airlines to refrain from carrying Covid-19 patients but six coronavirus patients were found boarding the Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Biman has been fined Tk 30,000 (Tk 5,000 for each passenger). Besides, Air Asia has been fined Tk 1 lakh, he said.

“We’re slapping small fines but have taken tough decisions. If any airline is found carrying Covid-19 patients, the flight operation will be suspended for a day or two or a week or for an even longer period,” the CAAB Chairman said.

Mobile court drives are being conducted at the airport and each passenger is being checked. Nobody is being allowed in the country without having Covid-19 negative certificates, he said.

Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh

Amid the reluctance of different airlines, Bangladesh’s Covid-19 fatalities rose to 7,156 on Wednesday morning with reports of 27 more deaths in 24 hours, the health authorities said.The mortality rate stands at 1.44 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services.

Forty coronavirus-related deaths were recorded on Tuesday.Besides, 1,632 new Covid-19 cases were reported until Wednesday morning, taking the country’s caseload to 495,841.So far, 429,351 patients – 86.35 percent – including 2,622 ones in the last 24 hours, have recovered.(Source: UNB)