Field admin recommends govt rigorous campaign over face masks

Field-level officials have suggested the government to engage commercial, industrial and non-political organisations to motivate people to mask up as Bangladesh has started seeing an increased number of Covid-19 cases with the arrival of winter.

The government desperately looks for effective ways to force people to wear face masks since punishment enforced in this regard does not help that much.

"Field-level administration has made the suggestion as people are still reluctant about wearing masks though mobile courts are punishing those moving around without masks," said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam.

He was briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat, according to a UNB report.

As part of the move to engage commercial and business organisations in the campaign, he said the Commerce Ministry and the FBCCI have already been asked to push it forward so that people mask up when they go out of home and thus protect themselves from the deadly Coronavirus.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting joining it virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.

The weekly cabinet meeting discussed the Covid-19 situation and the ways to tackle its fresh surge, said the Cabinet Secretary.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister said she had already instructed Awami League and its front and associate bodies so that their leaders and activists wear face masks while attending any programme as well as conduct massive awareness campaign in this regard.

She asked all concerned to distribute three-layer face-masks made of cloths among people so that those could be used repeatedly.

The Cabinet Secretary feared that the Covid-19 infection rate may rise further with the fall in mercury level.