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‘Educational institutions will be shut down again if infections rise’

Staff Correspondent
10 Sep 2021 12:37:11 | Update: 10 Sep 2021 13:45:30
‘Educational institutions will be shut down again if infections rise’

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Friday said the government will shut down educational institutions again if the Covid-19 infections start to increase in the country.

“The Education Ministry must close the educational institutions if the infections rise and we will give them the same advice (in this regard) as well,” the minister told the media.

Zahid made the comments when he was asked whether educational institutions will be closed or not as Covid infections has risen in the USA after reopening schools.

On September 5, the government finalised the decision to reopen all the primary, secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions on September 12 following an inter-ministerial meeting.

Meanwhile, the government has issued guidelines for reopening educational institutions.

The educational institutions were shut down on March 17, 2020 in Bangladesh after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8. Later, the closure was extended several times.

On August 26 this year, the authorities extended the closure until September 11.

Bangladesh recorded 58 more Covid-related deaths and 2,588 cases in a 24-hour span till Thursday morning.

The infection rate on Thursday dropped below 9 per cent to 8.76 per cent after 15 weeks.

When asked about the inoculation of individuals aged under 18, Zahid Maleque said the government has yet to receive any approval from the World Health Organization over the issue.

“The decision about vaccinating children will be made after getting WHO approval.”

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