Staff Reporter :
The government has announced a 7-day strict lockdown, which will begin across Bangladesh on Monday in a bid to curb a worrying surge in coronavirus cases and deaths.
In a notification on Friday, the Information Ministry said that all government and private offices, except for emergency services will remain closed during the lockdown.
All kinds of transportations, apart from those transporting goods will remain suspended, it said before adding ambulances and vehicles used for healthcare services can operate.
Citizens are asked to not leave their homes unless it was an emergency.
Police, RAB, BGB will take to the field to make people follow the rules of health. At the same time, the army may also be deployed.
State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain confirmed the matter.
The Cabinet Division will issued a detailed notification on Saturday, reads the notice by the ministry’s Press Information Department.
The announcement comes after the national Covid-19 advisory panel recommended on Thursday imposing a nationwide shutdown for two weeks, with all kinds of offices remaining closed.
Soon after, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told the media that they were all set to impose a complete shutdown “any time”.
As Covid-19 cases kept growing at an alarming rate since mid-March this year, the government was forced to impose a nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 to contain the spread.
Later, a stricter set of restrictions on public movement and gathering were extended several times – including the latest one till July 15 – considering the situation.
Additionally, the authorities across the country has been imposing district-wise restriction on public movement in areas with higher Covid-19 infections till now.
But now, with the fresh directive, a strict lockdown will take place across the nation.
On Friday, the death toll from Covid-19 rose by 108, the second highest single-day jump since the pandemic unfolded last year.
The caseload surged by 5,869 to 878,804, according to the latest government data. The daily infection rate rose to 21.22 per cent, up from 15 per cent a week ago.
The National Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in a meeting earlier recommended the enforcement of a full lockdown for two weeks, with a shutdown of all activities, including public transport services, offices and courts, except for emergency services, to rein in the surging coronavirus cases.
The state minister said the government was trying to curb the spread of the coronavirus by putting restrictions locally.
The expert committee, however, cast doubts on the effectiveness of staggered lockdown measures.
The health system will become overwhelmed unless strict measures are taken immediately, it warned.
