Businesses, transport, offices reopen Aug 11

The government has decided to relax the Covid-19 restrictions from August 11 taking into consideration the current socio-economic condition of the country.

All shopping malls and markets will resume operation from August, according to a gazette notification of the Cabinet Division published on Sunday.

Restaurants and hotels can be kept open with half of their capacity from 8am to 10pm while public transport will hit the streets as usual, but their number has to be 50 per cent.

Trains, buses and water vehicles will operate in full capacity from Wednesday as well. All government and private offices will do the same.

The notification stressed that health guidelines including social distancing must be followed during this period.

Bangladesh Restaurant Owners’ Association Secretary General Imran Hasan welcomed the government decision.

He said: “We have urged all restaurant owners and workers to follow health guidelines during the operation of their business.”

Around 30 lakh people work for 60,000 restaurants all over the country. Currently two crore people are directly and indirectly involved with the business.

On August 2, the association urged the government to allow hotels and restaurants to reopen following health rules amid the pandemic.

Earlier on Sunday, Farhad Hossain, state minister for public administration ministry, hinted that the ongoing restrictions centring Covid-19 will be relaxed in phases from August 11.

On August 3, the government decided to reopen the shopping malls and markets from August 11. Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque talked about it at a briefing after the cabinet meeting on August 3.

Earlier, the government allowed all export-oriented factories to run from August 1 amid the countrywide strict lockdown.