Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed everyone to be alert about the new Covid-19 variant "Omicron".
The prime minister gave the directive during an unscheduled discussion at a cabinet meeting on Monday, said Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam at a briefing on the same day.
The meeting was attended by the prime minister from Ganabhaban.
Being asked whether there was any special instructions in the cabinet meeting, the secretary said, "There has been a lot of discussion today, specially on Omicron."
"It has been instructed to be very careful about it as it's spreading around the world," said Anwarul Islam.
Bangladesh on Saturday detected the first cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in two Bangladeshi women cricketers who returned from Zimbabwe last week.
The newest variant, first detected in South Africa, which is deemed highly contagious and capable of undergoing frequent mutations, has pushed many countries to revert the relaxed restrictions to their previous state of stern travel curb.
The Bangladesh government has recently made 14 days of institutional quarantine mandatory for those returning from seven African countries which have detected Omicron.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Omicron variant has so far been reported in 57 nations and the number of patients needing hospitalisation is likely to rise as it spreads.
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