Over 6 months after the first person infected with COVID-19 was discovered in the country, WHO has supported the Government to screen nearly one million people entering the country by air, land and sea. The current outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection has spread across borders which has prompted demands for the detection of suspected cases and contacts at the points of entry (PoE) like seaports, airports and ground crossings.
Since the beginning of this global pandemic, WHO has been continuously working with Government, International Organization for Migration and other partners to scale up International Health Regulations (IHR) core capacities and implementation, passenger screening, early detection and isolation of suspected cases and quarantine of contacts.
“Within the framework of IHR, WHO supports national authorities to strengthen and maintain public health capacities for surveillance and response at points of entry. The surveillance further aids contact tracing of the COVID-19 confirmed travelers and provides background for informed decision making to break the disease transmission chain.” says Mr Ahmed Hasan Mohiuddin, WHO National Professional Officer for Surveillance & Public Health Informatics.
.tmb-768v.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=ff5862fb_1 "WHO supported Government to screen nearly 1 million people at Points of Entry (5)")
WHO assisted the Government to elaborate a series of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the PoE activities like handling of ill passengers potentially infected with COVID-19, procedures for suspected COVID-19 cases in the aircrafts, procedures for screening passengers at the Health Desk at the PoEs, etc. The SOPs includes IHR recommended Health Declaration Forms (HDF), guidelines for detection of ill travelers, health examination procedures, reporting of alerts like identifying suspected cases, isolation and quarantine of contacts, initial case management and referral of suspected cases.
Furthermore, WHO is continuously conducting monitoring activities at points of entries. This allows Government to gather real-time information on the PoE activities and existing capacities for better intervention. Additionally, WHO has scaled up the workforce involved in screening passengers by funding 17 staff that will enhance data management for the surveillance system and Infection Prevention and Control at the designated PoEs.
Moreover, WHO distributed to frontline workers conducting assessment activities at POEs over 80 000 personal protection items such as masks, hand sanitizers, face shields and gloves.
WHO remains committed in supporting Government of Bangladesh to strengthen surveillance at points of entry for early detection of suspected cases, an essential step to break COVID-19 chain of transmission.
WHO activities have benefitted from financial support from European Union Humanitarian Aid.