Reza Mahmud :
To compel the people to respect safety directives strictly to contain spreading of coronavirus, the government is returning lockdown dividing as red, yellow and green zones as per the infection rates.
After announcing Cox’s Bazaar Municipality as the country’s first red zone, the government may bring some areas of the capital Dhaka under red zone experimentally soon.
Sources from the Health Services Division said that red zone is that has high infection rate among the residents. Some areas of Dhaka may be brought under fold of the new lockdown which may start from today (Sunday).
It said that the government’s plan to impose areawise lockdowns in Dhaka begins from Sunday with Wari and Rajabazar.
Habibur Rahman Khan, the Additional Secretary of the Health Services Division said, “The areas may be locked down on an experimental basis, from Sunday.”
Professor Dr. Nazrul Islam, the former Vice-Chancelor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and the member of the ‘National Technical Advisory Committee’ formed to recommend the government about policies to tackle the virus, told The New Nation, that the committee are working to prepare draft about the activities of red, yellow and green zones.”
The other officials of the Health Department said that the mapping process to identify virus hotspots is now under way.
Additional Secretary Habibur Rahman Khan said that the government has already decided to completely lock down red zones with high infections, which means 30 to 40 infections per 100,000 people.
He said that as per the outline, nobody will be allowed entering or leaving their homes in the areas flagged as red zones.
Police, however, say they have not got yet any order in this regard.
“No official order has been issued to impose a lockdown in Rajabazar,” said Biplob Bijoy Talukder, Deputy Commissioner of Tejgaon division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
“We have not got any office order regarding imposing of lockdown in Wari,” OC Azizur Rahman of the Wari Police Station said.
Besides, Professor Dr. ABM Abdullah, personal physician to the Prime Minister, told The New Nation, “I have suggested the government to impose strict lockdown even if needed curfew, as the number of the virus infections is increasing continuously.”
When contacted, Professor Dr. Muzaherul Huq told The New Nation, “The virus infection are not declining but surging seriously. In this circumstances, there is no way but divide the country into red, yellow and green zones and impose strict lockdown further where the infection rates are found high.”
The experts also said it is very much necessary to divide areas into zones so that the normal life would be allowed some areas to continue economic activities and some areas to be locked down to restrain the virus outbreak.
