Staff Reporter

The country has returned to almost normal activities with the plying of all modes of vehicles on roads and the reopening of shops and markets as the government has lifted all lockdown restrictions for eight days from today ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

However, all recreation centers will remain closed while and socio-political-religious gatherings ahead of Eid banned.

The government took the decision to relax the restrictions considering upcoming Eid celebrations, movement of commoners, pre-Eid trade and country’s socioeconomic condition, and to keep the economic activities moving although the deaths and infections from coronavirus continued to rise alarmingly.
As per the decision, operations of public transport and other vehicles and businesses will remain open till 6:00am on July 23.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification regarding the directives through the Press Information Department (PID) on Wednesday.

“Restrictions have been eased from July 14 midnight to 6:00am on July 23, but all tourist centres, resorts, community centers and recreation centers will remain closed,” it said.

Besides, all public gatherings such as social (wedding ceremonies, birthdays, picnics, parties, etc), political and religious ceremonies will remain halted, said a PID handout.

Besides, the government has instructed all to wear masks outdoors and comply with the health guidelines to curb the spread of coronavirus amid the relaxed restrictions.

As the government lifted the restrictions, public transport, including long-route buses and trains, and shops and markets start operation today.
Besides, banks will operate in full swing but courts will run virtually except some specific issues in lower court.

The border with neighboring India will remain closed as the government on Tuesday extended the closure until July 31. Earlier on June 28, the border closure was extended for another 14 days until July 14. The border was first closed on April 26 to check the spread of corona transmission.

Earlier, the government on Tuesday issued a gazette notification, mentioning that the lockdown will be re-imposed from 6:00am on July 23 for two weeks.

The government has eased the restrictions at a time when the country’s coronavirus situation continued to worsen. On Wednesday, 210 people died from Covid-19 while 12,383 new infections were detected in the country.

Earlier, the government imposed all-out lockdown for a week from July 1 as the deaths and infections from coronavirus have been increasing by leaps and bounds.

Later, the lockdown was extended for another week to July 14 which ended on Wednesday midnight.

Before going to strict enforcement of lockdown from July 1, the government on June 16 last extended the countrywide ‘so-called’ lockdown for a month until July 15 reopening all government and private offices, autonomous organisations, banks and financial institutions.

On June 6, the government extended the countrywide lockdown for 10 days until June 16, saying the deputy commissioners of high-risk districts can announce lockdown in their respective areas after discussion with the local representatives and the committees concerned.

Due to a rise in coronavirus cases from mid-March, the government imposed a relaxed lockdown for one week from April 5.

But the government allowed resumption of public transport services in city corporation areas from April 7 as well as reopening of shops and markets for five days from April 9 in the face of protests against the lockdown.

The relaxed lockdown was extended for two more days until April 13. As per the suggestions of health experts, the government enforced a stricter lockdown from April 14 to April 22, which was extended until July 15 in phases.

On May 8 last, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed the detection of the Delta variant, which was classified by the World Health Organization as a "variant of global concern", in Bangladesh.

Country’s educational institutions remain closed from last year and it will remain close until July 31.