35 Chinese workers of Padma Bridge project under observation: Quader

In the wake of coronavirus outbreak in China, road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said 35 China citizens working at the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project have been kept under close observations, reports news agency UNB.

Talking to newsmen at his secretariat office, the minister also said enjoying their leave, the 35 China nationals returned to Bangladesh on 18 January, but they have been kept out of the project activities.

He said those returned from China will be kept out of project activities for 14 days as per the rules. “They have been kept under observation as a precautionary measure.”

Replying to a question, whether the construction work of the Padma bridge will be hindered for this, Quader said around 1,000 China citizens haven been working at the project, and about 150 of them usually remain on ‘shifting leave’ at a time.

“It doesn’t hamper the construction activities of the Padma bridge,” he added.

China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Company Limited, a Chinese contractor, is working to construct the main part of the Padma Bridge while the

Chinese Sino-Hydro is working as the contractor for the river training work.

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province of China, is at the centre of the outbreak of the coronavirus. Wuhan is in lockdown and China has imposed travel bans on a number of other cities.

The Chinese health authorities announced on Wednesday that 5,974 confirmed the cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions by the end of Tuesday.

A total of 132 people have died from the disease, state-run Xinhua news agency of China reported.

The coronavirus can be passed between humans through close contact, Chinese medical experts say.