Taking stock of the global Covid situation, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 Thursday suggested removing the post-arrival test for travellers who got fully vaccinated at least 14 days before arriving in Bangladesh.

Considering the drop in daily case positivity rate in the country, it also recommended reopening the educational institutions after its 56th meeting.

The committee suggested that unvaccinated passengers take a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test 72 hours before boarding a plane.

As some countries no longer require travellers to take a pre-departure test, RT-PCR should be subjected to the requirements of specific countries and airlines, it added.

However, airlines have to ensure that the passengers have their Covid-19 vaccination certificate, the NTAC said.

Also, the committee recommended starting in-person classes at educational institutions from February 22.

However, it also suggested ensuring that students are fully vaccinated and health guidelines maintained at educational institutions.

The educational activities of primary level educational institutions can continue online, the NTAC said.

The government reopened in-person classes last September but again closed schools and colleges on January 21 amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Before that, educational institutions remained shut from March 17, 2020, as the country had reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8.

Bangladesh logged 20 more Covid-related deaths and 3,539 new cases till 8am Thursday. 

The case positivity rate dropped to 10.24 percent from Wednesday's 12.20 percent.

The new numbers took the country's death toll to 28,907 and caseload to 1,926,570.