All the schools, colleges and universities of the country will remain closed from January 21 to February 6 in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, said a government announcement on Friday.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification in this regard in the morning imposing restrictions on the overall activities and movement of people in the country amid a worrying spike in Covid-19 cases.

As the situation keeps worsening, the government has also prohibited the gathering of 100 people for any political, social or religious programmes. Those who will attend such programmes will need to have Covid-19 vaccine certificates and RT-PCR test conducted, says the notification.

It says all the government, non-government offices and factories have been asked to make sure that all the staff and officers carrying Covid-19 vaccine cards.

The notification asked all to wear masks and maintain health rules at public places like markets, shopping malls, mosques, bus stands, launch terminals, railway stations. The local administration and law enforcement agencies have been instructed to monitor and ensure compliance.

READ: Writ seeks 30-day closure of educational institutions as pandemic surges

Covid situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported 10,888 fresh cases with four deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning marking a sharp rise in its infection rate.

The positivity rate in the country further increased to 26.37 per cent from Wednesday’s 25.11 per cent after testing 40,898 samples, according to the Directorate general of health Services (DGHS).

READ: Classes to go online if Covid spreads to educational institutions: Minister 

Bangladesh last logged 10,420 cases and 237 deaths on August 11, last year with a positivity rate of 23.45 per cent in 24 hours.

The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,180 while the caseload mounted to 1,653,182 on Thursday.