Staff Reporter :
Shoppers on Friday flocked different markets and shopping centres in the capital after government relaxed restrictions on shops and malls from Friday.
Hundreds of customers and traders were seen defying health guidelines at different shopping malls in the New Market area on Friday afternoon. While most of them were wearing masks, no physical distancing was maintained.
Government on Thursday decided to let shops and malls open from 9:00am to 5:00pm till April 13, strictly maintaining health safety guidelines.
Earlier on April 4, the Cabinet Division issued a circular with some 11 directives, imposing a seven-day restriction on movement which will expire on April 11.
Meanwhile, the government will go into a week-long hard lockdown starting from April 14, in order to prevent Covid-19 transmission, as the existing lockdown has proven to be ineffective to restrict public movement.
During this lockdown, all government and private offices, industries – including the RMG industry – and transport services will remain suspended, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain said on Friday.
Only the emergency services will remain open during the hard lockdown.
A gazette notification in this regard will be issued on Sunday, the media reports said.
“The strict lockdown will be enforced per the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. There is no alternative now to this in order to curb the Covid-19 surge,” State Minister said.
“All government and non-government institutions, except for emergency services will be closed across the country from April 14. Garment factories will be closed as well. All public transport, except for ambulance services, will remain closed during this time,” the state minister said.
