IT IS commendable that the government has taken immediate steps to verify Covid certificates at different land borders following the detection of three individuals with false negative certificates. In the past week, three travellers from India have returned to Bangladesh through the Benapol and Akhaura land ports, but their Covid reports were falsified and the incidents have prompted the immigration authority to intensify their Covid screening process. To prevent the cross-border spread of the Omicron variant, a new strain of Covid-19, the authorities concerned have taken steps to verify Covid negative certificates and to enforce the use of facemask and social distancing at border crossings. As border trade remains open, the authorities in some busy immigration points have also set up additional screening arrangements for drivers of goods-laden vehicles. The preventive measures already taken are important, but the screening should be followed by the enforcement of the globally acknowledged guideline for governments to control the spread of Covid-19 at ground crossings.

The threat looms as the daily count of Covid cases has risen by 742 per cent over the first month since the detection of the Omicron strain in Bangladesh. Since November 2021, epidemiologists and health officials have expressed concern over the poor Covid screenings for inbound passengers at air and land ports and improper verifications of RT-PCR Covid negative reports submitted by passengers. As Bangladesh shares land borders with India and Myanmar, the need for strict screening of undocumented cross-border travels have also been emphasised by health experts. The government should particularly revisit its border management policy with India as the country has been witnessing an increasing number of Omicron infection cases. The foreign minister on Sunday has discouraged travel through the Bangladesh-India border on health safety grounds; however, many public health experts think it is time to put a temporary travel ban to and from India to contain the infection in Bangladesh. Considering the rapid spread of the Delta variant and the reported flawed border management with India at the time, many have asked the government to ensure a Covid prevention mechanism through which the health, immigration and port authorities could work in a coordinated manner.

A credible Covid screening system at immigration points is the first crucial step towards controlling the contagion, but the cross-border control of a contagious disease must be equipped with a sound disease surveillance system that is still amiss in the land and sea ports of Bangladesh. The government, under the circumstances, must identify priority ground crossings and scale up preparedness and control measures. It must ensure RT-PCR testing facilities and the required human resources to authenticate negative certificates submitted by travellers at immigration points. Authorities must also ensure that no traveller is harassed or held in quarantine facilities more than the recommended period and bear all the expenses of treatment of returnee Covid positive patients.