The Ministry of Home Affairs has urged people to scale down the celebration of Christmas and New Year in Bangladesh, as the omicron variant of coronavirus spreads fast across the globe.
The public security department of the ministry has written to the inspector general of police, division commissioners, metropolitan police commissioners, range DIGs, deputy commissioners, police superintendents and the Bangladesh Christian Association on the issue, reports bdnews24.com.
“No open gathering, meeting, religious or cultural event should be organised and celebrations should be held at a limited scale and following health protocols,” the letter said.
Christmas Day, celebrated on Dec 25, is one of the year’s biggest festivals for the Christian community. And, a week later, people of all faiths celebrate New Year Eve on Dec 31. The government had imposed some restrictions last year, preventing people from celebrating both festivals on a larger scale due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, the number of infections in Bangladesh is fairly low, with regular life almost returning to normal in the past few months.
However, omicron, a new variant of the pathogen has raised concern among health experts as it is spreading very quickly across the globe. It has already reached Bangladesh.
At the recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19, the Directorate of Health Services issued a 15-point directive that discourages any type of gathering including social, political and religious. Tourist places, entertainment centres, resorts, community centres, cinema halls, theatres and social events like weddings, receptions, birthdays, and picnics should keep the number of people limited to half of the capacity of the venue.
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, social, religious events and gatherings are being scaled down across the globe and celebrated at home. Bangladesh has taken similar precautions and the celebrations of all religious festivals of the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist community have been scaled down.”
Under the circumstances, the celebrations of Christmas and New Year’s Eve should be scaled down and the local administration and law enforcing agencies should ‘strictly monitor’ it to ensure security in the country, the ministry said in its letter.
If necessary, the concerned authorities in the upazilas, districts and metropolitan areas should be consulted to enforce health protocols, it said.
