We have a similar situation again and, unfortunately, it seems that we are on the way to making the same mistakes. The new variant of the virus originated in the UK but, as of now, no steps have been taken by the authorities to ban flights to and from the country, leaving our nation and its people vulnerable to this new threat. Experts have said that, since Bangladesh lacks the infrastructure and capabilities necessary for genomic surveillance, it is of the utmost importance that the first step we take is not allowing the variant to enter the nation in the first place. While we appreciate that passengers from or with transits in the UK were being screened for the virus, it still leaves us vulnerable, and we must do as the EU nations have done and ban flights to and from the nation. In this regard, we cannot take any chances, and if we repeat our mistakes, there will be no excuse when our nation once again falls victim to a second wave of the pandemic.

Source: Dhaka Tribune December 24, 2020 16:52 UTC