The government on Friday announced that all export-oriented industries would remain out of the purview of the ongoing Covid restrictions from August 1 though Covid-19 has continued to spread, believed to be triggered by the highly deadly Delta variant, at an abnormally high rate.

The government decision came hours after the health authorities told the media that all activities except emergency ones should remain suspended with the extension of the existing curbs to prevent the Covid situation from further slipping out of hand.

‘Reopening factories will cause further increase in infection,’ said Directorate General of Health Services DG ABM Khurshid Alam.

All movements, unless for delivering emergency services, must be curbed to contain the spread, he said, adding that the ongoing Covid vaccination campaign can go along the restrictions.

He said that factory owners were pushing for reopening their businesses, a move the authorities should not pay heed to for preventing the pandemic from worsening.  

The country confirmed more than 200 new Covid deaths and some 13,000 new cases in the latest 24-hour reporting period till 8:00am Friday.

A Cabinet Division circular on the day said that the country’s export-oriented industries would stay out of the purview of the restrictions from 6:00am on August 1.

The government allowed the export-oriented sectors to resume production a day after the demand from the factory owners to reopen their units immediately.

The country’s apparel and textile factory owners on Thursday held a meeting with cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam at the Bangladesh Secretariat and repeated their demand that they should be allowed to reopen their factories immediately for the ‘sake of the economy and livelihoods’.

The Cabinet Division on July 13 in a circular imposed the 23-point fresh strict curbs from July 23 to August 5 to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

The apparel exporters on July 15 urged the government to allow operation of the export-oriented factories during the fresh restrictions to ‘avert an export tumble and bankruptcy of entrepreneurs’.

Turning down the RMG and textile sector appeal, the Cabinet Division on July 19 issued a circular keeping food and food-processing industries and transports, preservation and processing of rawhides of sacrificial animals, pharmaceuticals, oxygen and Covid protective equipment-producing industries out of the purview of the restrictions.

A high-level meeting, chaired by home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, at the Cabinet Division on July 27 turned down the plea of the factory owners and decided to continue the ongoing restrictions on public movement and business activities till August 5.  

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association senior vice-president Mohammad Hatem hailed the new decision of the government to keep the export-oriented sector out of the purview of the restrictions.

‘We will reopen our factories from August 1,’ he told New Age on Friday.

Asked whether workers would be able to join their work from August 1 amid the strict restrictions, he said that they would resume operation of their units with the workforce who would be able to join.

Hatem hoped that the government would favourably consider the issue of movement of workers to join work amid the movement curbs.