Health Minister: Covid lockdown relaxed to save people’s lives and livelihoods

The restrictions imposed for containing Covid-19 have been relaxed in order to save people’s lives and livelihoods, says Health Minister Zahid Maleque.

“But we must not forget the highest value of life. The prime minister has directed an accelerated vaccination campaign and everyone must follow health guidelines and wear masks,” he said on Saturday.

He made the remarks at a seminar marking the 46th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Mourning Day, set to be observed nationally on Sunday.

The minister said now that everything was open, it was more important than ever to maintain health guidelines, taking vaccine shots and wearing masks.

They are now the only means to prevent Covid-19, he added.

He said the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh was relatively under control compared to other countries as the global death toll has already crossed four million.

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The government eased the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown from August 11 with a few guidelines remaining in different sectors and regarding people’s movement and gatherings.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification in this regard on Sunday, saying that with some restrictions imposed, the lockdown will be lifted following the decision taken in an inter-ministerial meeting held on August 3.

In an attempt to curb the rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths, Bangladesh was under a strict lockdown from the beginning of July till August 10, excluding an eight-day break during Eid-ul-Azha.

The government’s decision to relax the lockdown came at a time when the Delta variant of Covid-19 is wreaking havoc across the country.

Until Saturday morning, the pandemic claimed 23,988 lives after infecting 1,412,218 people in Bangladesh.

Until Thursday afternoon, the health authorities had managed to administer the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to some 15.3 million people and both doses to around 5.22 million people across the nation.