DHAKA, Nov 29, 2021 (BSS) - The Directorate General of Health Services 
(DGHS) today issued a 15-point guidelines to prevent the highly contagious 
new African COVID-19 variant named Omicron.

  A notification, signed by Prof Dr Nazmul Islam, director of disease control 
of DGHS, of 15-point guidelines was issued to provide an overall instruction 
to the people and relevant organizations to tackle the disease. 

  The guidelines are as follows: 

   1. Strengthening of medical test and screening of passengers arriving from 
South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and other new 
variant infected countries declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) 
should be ensured.

   2. All types of public gatherings (social/political/religious/others) have 
to be discouraged.

   3. People must follow all essential health rules including wearing 
facemasks while going outside the house.

   4. Limiting dining facility at restaurants should be ensured. 

   5. Limiting people's gathering at different places including tourist spot, 
recreation centre, resort, community centre, cinema hall/ theatre hall and 
social programmes should be ensured. 

   6. Health rules must be maintained at all places of worship including 
mosques. 

   7. Health rules must be maintained at public transports.

   8. Passengers arriving from the infected countries have to be kept for 14-
day quarantine.

   9. All educational institutions (madrasah, pre-primary, primary, 
secondary, higher secondary and universities) and coaching centres must 
maintain health rules.

   10. Healthcare professionals and health service recipients must follow 
heath guidelines strictly. 

   11. The vaccination programme must be conducted maintaining health rules.

   12. People with suspected coronavirus cases, positive patients and other 
people who have come in close contact with Covid-19 patients have to be kept 
in quarantine.

   13. The suspected Covid-19 people have to be kept at quarantine as well as 
they have to be brought under testing facility.

   14. Wearing face masks must be made mandatory at offices besides 
maintaining other health rules. 

   15. Publicity campaign has to be launched to create awareness among people 
about health guidelines to prevent and control the spread of the deadly 
virus.