Dhaka, Feb 20 The Bangladeshi government will not extend its COVID-19 restrictions once they expire on February 22 but mask mandates remain as usual.
Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam made the announcement on Sunday, saying the existing restrictions related to COVID-19 will end on Tuesday.
"There will be no further restrictions in effect beyond February 22," he told journalists in Dhaka.
According to him, masks will remain mandatory for attending any indoor or outdoor events, Xinhua news agency reported.
Amid surging cases with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, the Bangladeshi government on January 13 imposed 11-point restrictions till Feb 7, then extended them up to Feb 21.
According to the official, the secondary and higher educational institutes will reopen on Feb 22 after a closure of one month.
Education Minister Dipu Moni earlier said fully vaccinated students who have received two vaccine shots will be allowed to attend in-person classes from Feb 22, while the others will have to continue to take classes online.
Educational institutions for students aged under 12 will reopen about two weeks later, she added.
The latest moves came as the COVID-19 situation continued to improve in the country in recent weeks. On Sunday, Bangladesh reported 1,987 fresh cases, taking the infection tally to 19,33,291. The country also reported 21 new deaths from the pandemic, taking the death toll to 28,965.
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