Bangladesh to lift COVID curbs on Feb 22 as pandemic wanes

Bangladesh will remove the restrictions put in place to stem an omicron-fuelled surge in COVID-19 infections on Feb 22.

From Tuesday, public transports will be allowed to resume normal service while the curbs on dining in restaurants and public gatherings will also come off.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam announced the government's decision on Sunday.

However, the mask mandate and other health rules will continue to remain in effect, according to him.

On Jan 13, the government imposed restrictions in 11 sectors to curb the spread of the virus, five months after it had relaxed health rules.

These included a ban on social, religious or political gatherings in open spaces, while buses and trains were limited to half their capacity.

People were required to show their vaccination certificates for dining in restaurants.

The government warned of strict punitive measures for breaking the rules.

Meanwhile, schools and educational institutions were also closed to curb the spread of the disease.

Now, the government has decided to reopen all secondary, higher secondary and higher education institutions on Feb 22 while primary school students will resume in-person classes on Mar 1.

Bangladesh imposed a virus lockdown for the first time in March 2020, when the pandemic hit the country. The strict lockdown continued for more than two months. Only emergency service vehicles were allowed to run at the time. People were asked not to travel unless there was an emergency. The offices, educational institutes and factories also remained shut.

Later, the restrictions were relaxed when the virus cases ebbed across the country. But the rules were imposed again in different phases from April to August in 2021, as the delta variant of the coronavirus caused another surge in the virus infection. The government, however, allowed the factories to remain open in a bid to ‘maintain a balance of lives and livelihoods.’

Educational institutions reopened in September 2021 after the infection rate dropped significantly and people went back almost to their normal lives.

The country saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases in December after the omicron variant spread across the globe.

Omicron, the new strain of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa in November, has been held responsible for the latest wave of infection in Bangladesh.

On Dec 11, the government reported two women cricketers returning from Zimbabwe had contracted the omicron infection.

The Directorate General of Health Services subsequently issued a set of 15 restrictions to try and limit the spread of the omicron variant.

The restrictions included more health tests and screenings of people entering the country, limits on social, political and religious gatherings, use of masks outdoors and enforcement of health restrictions on public transport.