Although there has been no official announcement, all educational institutions were ordered on Friday to finish preparations to reopen within February 4 maintaining health guidelines to ensure safety of the students and the staff.
In a notice, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) told the heads of all educational institutions to prepare for reopening.
DSHE prepared a guideline and asked the educational institutions to follow them so that they can be reopened as soon as the order comes.
Also read: Writ seeks reopening of all educational institutions
“The matter is very urgent,” the notice read.
Educational institutions were shut on March 16 last year after the country confirmed its first Covid-19 cases on March 8. The closure was extended in phases to Jan 30 this year.
Bangladesh Covid situation improving
Things are looking bright for Bangladesh in the fight against Covid-19. The infection rate is falling and the number of deaths has been declining over the last few days.
The total caseload reached 530,890 on Friday morning with 7,981 fatalities. The daily infection rate fell to 4.17% with 1.5% mortality. So far, 475,561 patients have recovered (89.5%), according to a government handout.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh’s fatalities rise to 7,981
On May 12, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) advised governments that before reopening, rates of positivity in testing (aka daily infection rate, i.e out of all tests conducted, how many came back positive for COVID-19) should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
Bangladesh approved the emergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on January 7, allowing Beximco Pharmaceuticals to bring doses from the Serum Institute of India, which is manufacturing the vaccine.
Under the deal, Bangladesh will import 30 million doses in the next six months. Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the first consignment will arrive on Jan 25-26.
Also read: Covid-19: Educational institution closure extended to Jan 30
Meanwhile, the country received 2 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Jan 21 from India as ‘gift’.
On December 28, Bangladeshi pharmaceutical company Globe Biotech got approval from the DGDA for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine for clinical trials.