Tough Covid curbs back in Bangladesh amid Omicron scare

People have to wear masks everywhere, including shops and shopping malls, and maintain social distancing, as the tough Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government took effect on Thursday.

In an effort to slow down the virus transmission, the government on Monday imposed the harsh curbs in the wake of the Omicron outbreak and the overall coronavirus situation in the country.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification in this regard on 10 January.

Besides, buses will operate at half of their capacities from Saturday and at the previous fare, said the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

"Buses will carry 50% passengers but the fare won't be hiked this time," said BRTA Director Md Sarwar Alam on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway (BR) has decided to operate trains at half of their capacities from 15 January (Saturday) in an effort to ensure social distancing during train journeys as virus cases are on the rise across the country.

BR also brought some changes in issuing and booking tickets.

The fresh Covid-19 restriction includes –  

• All kinds of public gatherings, including social programmes, political and religious events will remain suspended until further notice.

• People have to wear masks everywhere, including shops, shopping malls, markets, hotels, and restaurants. Otherwise, they will face legal action.

• The mask use should be ensured in all places, including offices and courts, and mobile court drives will be conducted to prevent the violation of health guidelines.

• People should show their Covid-19 vaccination certificates while taking food in restaurants and staying in residential hotels.

• Students above 12 would not be allowed at educational institutions without having Covid-19 vaccination certificate after a designated date to be fixed by the Education Ministry.

• Increasing the number of screening at all ports, including land-ports, airports, and maritime ports. The crewmembers of ships should not be allowed to go outside while arriving at a port while only truck drivers are allowed to enter land ports with trucks. Besides, visitors along with foreign-bound passengers should not be allowed to enter airports.

• Public transport, including buses, trains, and launches can operate at half of their capacities while drivers and helpers of all modes of vehicles should have Covid-19 vaccination certificates.

• Passengers coming from abroad should show vaccination certificates and should undergo Rapid Antigen tests upon arrival.

• Imams will make people aware of the health guidelines and the use of masks in all mosques during the "khutba" of Jumma prayers and the deputy commissioners and UNOs concerned will ensure that.

• Health and Family Welfare Ministry will take necessary steps to ensure vaccination and accelerate the activities of booster dose. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry will assist them in publicity.

• In the case of any special situation in any place, the local administration can take steps in consultation with the authorities concerned.

Bangladesh recorded its first virus cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 of the last year.

Faced with the mounting Covid-19 cases, the government has imposed restrictions and lockdowns several times.

Pandemic in numbers

Bangladesh reported 2,916 more cases of infections and another four deaths in 24 hours till Wednesday morning with a continuous rise in cases related to the deadly virus.

With the fresh cases reported after testing 24,705 samples, the daily positivity rate kept increasing to 11.68% from Tuesday's 8.97% during the 24-hour period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The country last logged 3,167 cases on September 3, last year along with 70 deaths in 24 hours while the positivity rate was 10.76%.

The fresh numbers took the country's total fatalities to 28,111 while the caseload mounted to 1,601,305 on Wednesday.