The latest development comes as the Covid-19 situation continued to improve in the country in recent weeks….reports Asian Lite News
The Bangladesh government will not extend its Covid-19 restrictions once they expire on Tuesday but mask mandates will remain as usual, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said.
Islam made the announcement on Sunday, saying the existing restrictions related to Covid-19 will end on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.
“There will be no further restrictions in effect beyond February 22,” he told journalists in Dhaka.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, masks will remain mandatory for attending any indoor or outdoor events.
Amid surging cases of the Omicron variantin capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the Asian country, the Bangladesh government on January 13 imposed 11-point restrictions till February 7, then extended them up to February 21.
According to the official, the secondary and higher educational institutes will reopen on Tuesday after a one-month closure .
Education Minister Dipu Moni earlier had that said fully vaccinated students who have received two vaccine shots will be allowed to attend in-person classes from Tuesday, while the others will have to continue to take classes online.
Educational institutions for students aged under 12 will reopen about two weeks later, she added.
The latest development comes as the Covid-19 situation continued to improve in the country in recent weeks.
In the last 24 hours, Bangladesh reported 1,987 fresh cases, taking the infection tally to 19,33,291. The country also reported 21 new fatalities, taking the death toll to 28,965.
Earlier, the Cabinet Division said schools, colleges and equivalent educational institutions would remain closed until February 6.
Since March 2020, the virus has spread to every Bangladeshi district, and the total number of cases has risen to 1,909,664, while the death toll stood at 28,819.
According to figures published by the Directorate General of Health Services, the country’s current positivity rate reached 14.85 per cent Sunday, from over 32.4 percent on January 25.
The Bangladeshi authorities have already launched booster shots and started imposing stringent rules to combat the fresh spike in cases as well as the Omicron variant.
Also, the government has recently started a special campaign to bring “marginal people” under vaccination, which allows people to get vaccinated without registration at mobile vaccination clinics.