Home ›› 05 Jan 2022 ›› Front
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said he recommends shutting down educational institutions again if Omicron infections – a variant of Covid-19 – go up in Bangladesh, as the surge is already happening across the globe.
Speaking with reporters at the Secretariat, Maleque added that the government is not considering another lockdown at this time, but this measure is on the cards if infections rise in the coming days.
Providing more details about the government’s plans for tackling this lingering pandemic, Maleque said, “Some restrictions will be reintroduced. Public transportations will be directed to ply the roads filling only half of their seats with passengers.
“Commuters will have to wear face masks in transportations, and they will be fined for noncompliance. Shops and shopping malls will have to be closed by 8pm, instead of 10pm. People will have to wear face masks while visiting stores, or face fines.”
The deputy commissioners have been directed to implement these measures within the next seven days, the minister told reporters, adding that the officials have been instructed to ensure that people from across the country abide by these rules.
He continued, “The number of Covid-19 patients have been rising for over a week, and the way this infection is going up is alarming. Patients suffering from the new Omicron variant have also been identified in our country. So we have to be very careful now.
“Measures will be taken to strengthen screening along the border. Hospital beds have been kept ready. We are thinking about our future moves if the number of patients rises further.”
On Monday, Maleque said the government is going to intensify preventive measures to rein in the transmission of this deadly virus.
“Unvaccinated people will not be allowed to eat in restaurants. Only those who received vaccines can enter restaurants after showing their vaccine certif icates,” the minister told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting over Covid variant Omicron at the Secretariat.
He warned that restaurants will be fined if they violate this regulation.
A number of experts told The Business Post that the delta variant infections are still prevalent in the country. But in the next three to six weeks, a massive Omicron infection may occur.
The delta variant emerged in India in the first half of last year after the novel coronavirus epidemic broke out in the world two years ago. This created a state of panic in the country, and countless patients died due to an oxygen crisis.
This variant made the situation worse in Bangladesh since April last year, and this situation continued throughout the June-July-August period.
The situation later improved, but a new variant of the novel coronavirus appeared in South Africa. This variant is now spreading throughout the world, including in neighbouring country India, which recently reported its highest number of cases in 12 weeks.
On Tuesday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued 15-point guideline to tackle the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
