Covid curbs return from Thursday

The Covid curbs are back five months after relaxation as the government looks to stem the tide of Covid-19 cases that can potentially cripple the economy and overwhelm hospitals once again.

On the day that the country announced the highest number of Covid-19 cases in four months, the cabinet division issued a notice with an 11-point directive for public movement from January 13.

No social, religious or political gatherings and rallies at open places are allowed until further notice.

Mask wear is mandatory in all public places, including shops, markets, shopping centres, restaurants, offices and courts. Mobile courts will be operated countrywide to penalise violations of the health guidelines.

Bus, launch and train must operate at half capacity. The authority concerned will issue a specific notice on the matter along with the date the restriction will take effect. Drivers and their assistants in vehicles must provide proof of vaccination.

To dine at restaurants, a vaccine certificate must be furnished, while students aged 12 years and above will not be allowed to attend classes in-person unless they are vaccinated after January 15.

No visitors will be allowed at airports. All international arrivals will have to show a negative COVID-19 certificate and undergo a rapid antigen test.

Only truck drivers will be allowed at the land port, while screenings at all ports will be increased. Embargoes would be imposed on crews to prevent them from leaving the vessels.

The measures are expected to contain the latest surge in Covid-19 cases, driven most likely by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The variant has undergone 50 genetic changes, making it more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant and more likely to evade the immune protection provided by vaccines or previous infection.

Subsequently, it is causing a fresh wave of coronavirus cases the world over, compelling governments to enforce measures to restrict social mixing.

In Bangladesh, the official tally of Omicron cases stands at 31, after 10 new cases were reported yesterday by the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).

Samples from all of the patients were collected before December 28, according to the data published on the global database GISAID.

But health officials believe the fast-multiplying variant is causing the spike in cases witnessed in recent days.

In the 24 hours to 8 am yesterday, the country logged in 2,231 new cases -- the highest since September 10 last year. In the preceding 24 hours, 1,491 new cases were registered.

The case positivity rate yesterday was 8.5 percent --the highest since September 5.

Vaccinated patients are more likely to experience milder disease if infected by the Omicron variant, while a booster dose is said to provide bigger and broader protection against the rogue variant.

In Bangladesh, the rate of vaccination is modest: as of January 6, 39 percent of the targeted population and 31 percent of the total population have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The health ministry will take necessary measures and initiatives to expedite the COVID vaccination campaigns.

Students, who have thus far not been a major focus of the vaccination campaign, will be given special attention.

Hours before the cabinet division issued the notice, Education Minister Dipu Moni at a press conference said they have taken a target of inoculating more than 75 lakh students aged between 12 and 18 by January 31.

There are about 1.16 crore students aged between 12 and 18. Of them, 44 lakh have got the first dose while another 4.2 lakh have completed Covid-19 inoculation.

As many as 75.5 lakh students are yet to get the vaccine.

"Earlier, we faced complexities on vaccine preservation and registration. We have overcome the problem now. The DGHS is not seeking much documentation. The whole process has become easier for our students," she said.

If a student above 12 years of age shows the relevant documents, he/she can get the vaccine, she said, while suggesting the students take at least a dose to attend classes in person.

Meanwhile, the education ministry is due to sit today to discuss vaccination of students of National University, Open University and Islamic Arabic University as a large number of the students from the institutes remain unvaccinated.

As of now, there is no plan to halt in-person classes, while the SSC and HSC exams will be held in the middle of the year, she said.

The education ministry will also heighten monitoring at the educational institutions to ensure the health guidelines are being followed properly.