Bangladesh may bring back pandemic curbs if virus cases jump: state minister

The government will impose lockdown restrictions again if coronavirus cases jump across Bangladesh, said State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain.

“We’ll go for two strategies. One is to reimpose the lockdown and the other is to reopen everything and make sure everybody wears a mask,” Hossain told reporters in Dhaka on Thursday.

“Any country around the world experiencing an uptick in the coronavirus cases has imposed a lockdown. Australia has deployed the army and also imposed a curfew. The US also imposed restrictions. Why? Because there’s no alternative to it,” he said.

“The restrictions were in place for a long time. But we need to reopen the economy because of the needs of people from various socio-economic strata. Some of them run businesses, some of them have other jobs. It was necessary to relax the rules for their livelihoods, though we aren’t happy with the coronavirus situation.”

As part of the easing of restrictions, the government will allow the tourist sites and entertainment centres to reopen on Aug 19, provided they meet the appropriate criteria. Public transport, which had previously been restricted to using half the fleet of trains and buses, will have those limitations removed from then as well.

Lockdown restrictions have been relaxed in consideration of the ‘socio-economic situation’ and to ‘keep the national economy running,’ the Cabinet Division said in an order on Thursday. The order will be applicable until further notice.

On Aug 11, the government relaxed most of the restrictions imposed during the lockdown Jul 23 to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

All government and private offices, banks and financial institutions, shops and malls were reopened. Industrial factories have been open since Aug 1.

The government also allowed public transport to run from Aug 11, but ordered transport owners to use half of their fleets in rotation in every area.

The restrictions are being relaxed in phases, the state minister said. “As a continuation of that, another order has been issued today (Thursday). Tourism centres, resorts, community centres and places of entertainment will be able to reopen, but can only serve customers at 50 percent capacity. The government will also allow all public vehicles back on the road from Aug 19.”

“We want everyone from any profession to perform their duties with caution.”

“We must remember that our failure to follow the health protocol will only lead us to contract the disease. And those among us who have comorbidities may face severe health risks and that could be fatal too. We must all realise this.”