Bangladesh seals border with India amid record surge in COVID-19 cases

Photo for representational purpose

Bangladesh has decided to close its border with India for the next 14 days following a sharp rise in the country's COVID-19 cases and deaths.

A ban on entry from India has been imposed in line with the instructions of the prime minister's office, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.

On Thursday, a proposal to shut down borders with India was rejected at an inter-ministerial meeting.

Due to massive surge in COVID-19 numbers, India has been witnessing shortage of hospital beds and medical-grade oxygen for past few days.

Several countries around the world including Germany, Iran, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, and the UAE have suspended passenger flights from India.

India recorded 3,49,691 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year. According to the Union Health Ministry, the country has recorded 2,767 new deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

The country's total infection count has mounted to 1,69,60,172 cases, while 1,92,311 people have so far succumbed to the viral infection so far. There are 26,82,751 active COVID-19 cases in the country, said the official data of the ministry.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.