Covid restrictions on public movement extended till 21 Feb

The government has revised and extended the ongoing restrictions on public movement and gatherings for two weeks in a bid to control the spread of Covid-19 and its Omicron variant across the country.

The restrictions have been extended from 7 February till 21 February midnight, said a gazette notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday.

The government initially imposed the countrywide restrictions on public movement on 10 January.

According to the notice, no public gatherings of over 100 people will be allowed in both indoor and outdoor locations for social, religious, political, or government events.

Moreover, those participating at public gatherings must carry their vaccine cards or an RT-PCR negative test report performed within 24 hours before attending the concerned event.

Meanwhile, in-person classes in schools, colleges, and equivalent institutions will be closed until further notice. 

The fresh Covid-19 restrictions include –  

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

•  Both public and private offices will operate with half of their manpower, 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.

• 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 12,193 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 44,451 samples, the daily positivity rate stood at 27.43%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

With the latest additions, the case tally increased to 1,824,180 in the country. 

Meanwhile, 36 more deaths caused by the deadly virus was reported during the same period -- taking the total death toll to 28,461.