Govt bans social, political and religious gatherings

People gather in Chittagong Medical College Hospital on 18 August 2021 to receive Covid-19 vaccine.
Sourav Das

Amid the alarming surge of coronavirus, the government has banned all kinds of public gatherings, including social, political and religious until further notice.

The cabinet division issued a gazette notification in this regard on Monday.

It said some 11 instructions including ban on gatherings have been issued considering the surge of Omicron, a new variant of coronavirus.

The decision of the coronavirus infection situation monitoring inter-ministerial meeting, the socio-economic condition of the country, and overall situations were also taken into consideration.

These instructions will come into effect from Thursday, 13 January.

Covid infection dropped after the government launched a nationwide campaign in August following the surge of Delta various by mid-2021.

Infections dropped below 500 and infection rate was at 1 per cent in December last. But the country has witnessed a steep rise in Covid-19 cases over the past several weeks.

The Directorate General of Health Services reported 2,231 more infections along with three more deaths in 24 hours till Monday morning.

The daily positivity rate jumped again to 8.53 per cent from Sunday's 6.78 per cent during the period.