Govt eases curbs on long-haul public transports and dine-in services at eateries
The government has again extended the ongoing restrictions on public movement and gathering in a bid to stop further spread of Covid-19.
In a notification on Sunday, the Cabinet Division said that the ongoing restrictions have been extended till May 30 midnight.
The government has allowed to resume inter-district travel through public transport.
All kind of public transport, including long-haul services, can operate carrying passengers at half the capacity, the notification said before making masks mandatory for passengers, drivers and their assistants.
Restaurants and eateries, which until now could operate for takeaway services, have been allowed to offer dine-in facilities at half the capacity.
This year, the government initially imposed the countrywide restrictions on public movement on April 5, with the strict lockdown put into effect from April 14. The lockdown was later extended till May 16.
Until the new announcement, the restrictions were effective till May 23.
Last week, the government said it was working to give the police magistracy power by amending the Infectious Diseases (Prevention, Control and Eradication) Act-2018 to make people wear masks due to lack of manpower to conduct mobile courts.
The government and public health experts are concerned about a possible third wave of Covid-19 in early June due to the detection of the Indian variant of the virus in Bangladesh.
Till Saturday morning, Bangladesh registered 38 new deaths from Covid-19, taking the country’s toal death toll to 12,348.
During the same period, 1,028 more people tested positive for Covid-19. With the latest tally, the nationwide caseload stands at 787,726 as of Saturday morning.
The latest figures show an infection rate of 8.41%.
Amid a shortage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Bangladesh on Wednesday received 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine as a gift.
On April 26, Bangladesh closed its borders with India for 14 days for passengers. In the meantime, the country detected its first cases of the Indian coronavirus variant, prompting the authorities to extend the closure of the land borders for two more weeks.
