"However, the new variants have not spread in Bangladesh as all the patients detected with new Covid-19 variants have been isolated," the minister added.
He was attending a programme – held to mark the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – in the capital.
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"The country is seeing a spike in Covid-19 infections recently as people are crowding the tourist spots and attending social and religious programmes without following the health guidelines," the minister said.
So, the ministries have been instructed to take steps to put restrictions on large gatherings in public transports, restaurants and tourist spots, Maleque added.
In the last month, around 20 lakh people went to visit Chattogram and another 1 crore attended social events without following health protocols, he said.
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"Only vaccination cannot keep us safe from Covid-19. Things will go out of control if there is a big rise in Covid-19 infection. We do not have many hospital beds; none of the countries has this capacity," the minister added.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh
Bangladesh registered 11 more deaths and 1,865 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
The daily tally of Covid-19 fatalities showed a downtrend on Wednesday, after at 26 for two consecutive days – Tuesday and Monday.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Death toll falls, still 11 more die in 24 hrs
With the latest figures, the Covid-19 fatalities climbed to 8,608 and total infections to 562,752, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.
By Tuesday, 4,580,391 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.
Also read: Vaccine drive to continue with AstraZeneca shot: Health Secretary
The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India's Serum Institute for acquiring 30 million doses of the vaccine.