Italy stops Bangladeshis from disembarking due to covid-19 fears.

Italy is not allowing around 125 Bangladeshi passengers to disembark from a plane that arrived in Rome's Fiumicino airport on 8 July due to fears of covid-19, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The Bangladeshi passengers aboard the plane, which arrived via Qatar this afternoon, are to be sent back to Doha on the same plane later today, said Fiumicino airport authorities.

The other passengers on the plane are currently being tested for coronavirus and will be allowed to disembark but must go into self-isolation on leaving the airport.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that these include 93 passengers of various nationalities, including 15 Italians.

• Italy searches for 600 potential covid-19 cases from Bangladesh

A similar situation reportedly occurred earlier today in Milan's Malpensa airport where 40 Bangladeshi passengers arrived from Doha only to be sent back on the same plane several hours later.

On 7 July Italy ordered a temporary suspension of flights from Bangladesh due to a spike in covid-19 cases among the Bangladeshi community in Rome and the Lazio region.

Italian health authorities are now attempting to trace an estimated 500-600 Bangladesh citizens who arrived in Italy in recent days and who may be covid-19 positive.

• Covid-19: Italy suspends flights from Bangladesh

Meanwhile Rome's Bangladesh community is cooperating with regional health authorities, with large numbers of Bangladeshis adhering to the call from the Lazio Region to undergo voluntary testing for coronavirus.

Photo Il Fatto Quotidiano