Barring educational institutions, normalcy has almost returned to all arenas in Bangladesh after about 6 months of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide.
Although vaccines of the virus have not yet been in hand, battle for survival is now visible.
Country’s hat-bazaars, shopping malls, offices and religious establishments have also returned back to their former self. Density of people and transports on city roads have increased while working pressure has also increased. All the alleys of the city are now full of people. Intercity and local trains and water transport have started their operations in full swing.
The government has removed the obligation of carrying [passengers in more than 50 per cent of seats. After the Eid-ul-Azha, the government on August 8 fixed the office time from 9 am to 5 am as before.
Earlier, the country’s people had remained almost confined for a long period of 66 days from March 26 to May 30. After those 66 days, life became normal a little bit.
According to the latest information, a total of 3,41,056 people of Bangladesh have so far been tested positive with coronavirus and 4,802 of them died of the virus while 245594 of the infected people have recovered. Besides, the total number of people tested positive with Covid-19 worldwide is 29,298,349 and 928,763 of them died while 19,875,824 people recovered.
To prevent coronavirus infection in the country, the government had declared general holidays across the country from March 26. The holidays had been extended to May 30 and everything was opened on a limited scale from May 31. In a latest development, the government order has been further relaxed by the Cabinet Division on August 31.
According to sources, the government has decided to open everything gradually keeping the life and livelihood of the people under consideration. Now unemployed people are looking for jobs, low-income people have started providing money to their families through work. Now it is hard to guess whether there is panic of the COVID-19 or not.
Although many people wear masks on their faces but dearth of awareness among them is clearly visible. Meanwhile, many others just carry masks for show and they do not wear the masks inright places. Most people like to put the masks on the chin under the mouth. However, almost all the office-goers wear masks regularly.
Many of the people have started office duties after a long break with new experiences. Although some important meetings are now being held online, political meetings, seminars and other activities are now taking place with participation of a huge number of people in the city and elsewhere in the country. However, cabinet meetings, ECNEC meetings and PM's meetings are still being held online. The programs of different ministries are being held online.
Talking to The Bangladesh Post, many city dwellers said they are no more afraid of coronavirus. But they try to maintain social distancing and heal guidelines prescribed by the government. Many others are happy that the city is returning to its former glory after a long captive life.
Restrictions on the airways have also been relaxed. Now flight movements have started in full swing on international and domestic routes. Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is busy with taking off and landing planes almost all day long.
Air Vice-Marshal Mofidur Rahman, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said that earlier each passenger could have sitted in two seats against a ticket for a single seat, but this rule no longer exists.
Flight movement from Dhaka to London and Qatar resumed on June 16. Oman and Bahrain, two Middle Eastern countries, have started operation air links with Bangladesh since September 7. At present, about 10 domestic and foreign airlines are operating flights to Bangladesh. Biman Bangladesh Airlines currently operates flights to Doha, Dubai, London and Kuala Lumpur. They have also increased the number of flights on domestic routes. Private airlines are also operating regular flights.
Although almost everything in the country has started to be normal, the scenario in educational institutions in the country is quite different. They are still closed and will remain closed till October 3. Parents are more concerned about their child's health security. They are reluctant to send their children to school until the situation is under control. Considering everything, the ministry wants to open educational institutions a little later. However, the results of SSC have been published amid the corona period. The process for the admission in HSC has also been started. However, it has not been possible to hold the HSC exam yet.
