Bangladesh
Mask Usage Mask usage a state order, says cabinet
Dhaka, October 26: Wearing masks has been made mandatory in all government and non-government institutions, markets, mosques and other places of worship, in a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday.
"Wearing a mask is a state directive. No one will get any service without wearing a mask," Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam told a news conference at the Cabinet Division of the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday afternoon.
He said masks must be worn in all government and non-government offices, social institutions, markets, shops, educational institutions, mosques and other places of worship across the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the meeting held in the conference room of the cabinet through video conferencing from Ganobhaban.
Anwarul Islam said, "Notices should be put up on the notice boards of all offices - 'No service without wearing a mask, no one can enter the offices without wearing a mask'."
He further said that instructions should be issued extensively everywhere.
"We have already issued guidelines in this regard at the departmental office. Extensive surveillance and close monitoring will also be ensured in all spheres of public life."
Referring to the intensification of awareness campaigns against Covid-19, the cabinet secretary said they had also talked to the country's clerics and Islamic scholars and religious leaders about wearing the mask and they also agreed with the decision.
The Islamic Foundation is working on this issue and will be conducting campaigns in all mosques of the country twice a day through the imams and muezzins of the mosques so that the imams can convey the message of wearing masks among the worshipers.
The cabinet meeting discussed the current government's precautionary measures against the outbreak of coronavirus and the overall activities including the possible second wave of Covid-19 infection in the coming winter, as well as its deadly effects across the country.
Responding to a question from reporters, the cabinet secretary said the government was working to get the coronavirus vaccine on a priority basis.
He added that the government, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, is making every effort to get the possible coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine and to ship it on a priority basis.
