"When I go out, I see that 50 to 60 percent of the people don't wear mask."

Professor Abdul Mannan, former chairman of the University Grants Commission, said there was no accurate information about the new variant Omicron. There are different opinions about it. Some say it will spread faster, reduce the impact, some say there is something in it that will have an effect. In Bangladesh, no one affected by this variant has been found yet. However, 240 passengers arrived in Bangladesh from South Africa. Almost all of them remain untraced except one or two.

Professor Abdul Mannan said this in an exclusive interview with Bangla Insider on various issues including the concern of closure of educational institutions due to the new Covid-19 variant Omicron. Mahmudul Hasan Tuhin, Bangla Insider's own correspondent, has interviewed Professor Abdul Mannan for the readers.

Professor Abdul Mannan said, "The way the Delta variant attacked us and other variants affected us, I don’t see it anew." We cannot take risks with our health, especially with children. These are relative matters. We will take actions according to the situation. If the situation is the same then why the school? why the exams? Everything will probably go back to the previous state. Nothing to do. We all need to look at health first. We have carelessness. When I go out on the streets, I see that 50 to 60 percent of the people do not wear masks.

"Even though I did not go to the get-together of Dhaka University, I saw on TV that more than half of the people were not wearing masks," he said. You wear the mask, you do not go to the crowd unnecessarily, wash your hands, give the vaccine, that’s all. Just follow these simple hygiene rules. Many countries now have made rules to pay a fine for not giving the vaccine. Again, in a country like America, where almost half of the people do not believe that there is a virus named covid. I myself participated in a survey. In those states, the Government is offering 500 for the 1st dose of vaccine and 500 for the second dose. They are giving 1000$ to people just to encourage them to take the vaccine. Even then people are not taking it. Now we need to confirm the vaccine for our people. Talking about taking health care all over the world, it has to be taken. On the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka, I saw no one but a mask. We do not pay attention to these issues. On the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka, I saw no one without a mask. But we are careless about these issues.