Govt will do whatever it takes to save people from coronavirus: Quader

The government will adopt necessary measures to protect the people from the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

Responding to a question from the media on Wednesday on whether the government plans to lock down the country, Quader said: “We’ll shut down. We’ll do whatever necessary to do; the priority is to protect the people.”

Transport owners and workers are already frustrated over the reduced number of passengers on the routes from Dhaka to the rest of the country, the minister said.

“The number of passengers will automatically decline; the situation will lead to it [transport shutdown],” he said.

The reporters also asked the minister about the government’s steps against the returnees defying the home quarantine order and whether he sees any failure on the part of the health ministry and the civil aviation authority in preventing the coronavirus outbreak.

The government will “strongly monitor” the quarantine issue, Quader said. “There was disorder in airport screening even in America, a superpower. I watched it on CNN,” he said.

“We don’t have experience in this, but we’re learning from our mistakes and preparing to confront the situation.”

Quader did not share any specific plan to address the testing kit and facemask shortage but said of the government agencies: “They are trying the best.”

The government has already taken the decision to stop public gatherings, he said. “We’ve scaled down the celebrations of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary.”

“We’ll prevent the situation carefully, so the coronavirus scare doesn’t spread. We should unite — going beyond communities and differences in ideology and opinion to prevent the coronavirus outbreak.”