Dhaka, Oct 20 (IANS): The Bangladesh government has advised the citizens of the country to refrain from going outside without wearing a mask due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and in an effort to curb the virus spread, the media reported.

The instruction came during a virtual meeting on Monday chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the use of masks, bdnews24 quoted Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam as saying.

"We are seeing a massive resurgence of coronavirus infections in the US and the countries across Europe. That's why the Prime Minister has emphasised face coverings. She has urged everyone to be more careful.

"Wearing mask is a key tool in the fight against coronavirus transmission. We need to create mass awareness over this as a large swathe of the population in Bangladesh is still reluctant to wear masks," Islam said.

In July, the government had made it mandatory for all to wear masks outdoors.

On Monday, Bangladesh reported 1,637 new Covid-19 cases, which took the overall infection tally to 390,206, while the death toll increased to 5,681 after the emergence of 21 new fatalities.

Local administrations have also been asked to implement strict rules over the violation of health protocols issued by the government to curb the pandemic.

Bangladesh is currently the second worst-affected country by the pandemic in South Asia, with India in the first place.

In the global count, India currently comes second in terms of coronavirus cases (7,550,273) and third with the highest number of deaths (114,610).