Minister: Over-18s going out unjabbed will face consequences

Citizens over 18 years, who have not yet been inoculated, will not be allowed to go outside after the government relaxes lockdown restrictions from August 11.

“No one will be allowed to go to work, keep their shops open or operate public transports without being vaccinated,” Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said on Tuesday after an inter-ministerial meeting on the pandemic situation.

If needed, the government might make staying outdoors without a vaccine after August 11 a punishable offence, he added.

Haque said that since public transports and businesses will be allowed to operate on a limited scale after August 11, people need to be inoculated before they go back to work. 

Also Read - Covid: Bangladesh records 235 more deaths, 15,776 new cases

Bangladesh has seen a rapid rise in Covid cases and deaths, forcing the government to impose strict lockdowns from July 13 to August 5.

The nationwide lockdown has been extended till August 11, with the government planning to reopen everything on a limited scale.

The government is set to inoculate 10 million people from August 7 – 12 followed by the vaccination of 10 milliom every month till the end of the year.

The month of July has been the deadliest for Bangladesh with the country posting as many as 6,182 fatalities.