Ongoing restrictions to continue for two more days before hard lockdown

The ongoing lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 has been extended till 6am on April 14. 

The Cabinet Division issued a notification on Sunday, confirming the matter. 

All concerned senior secretaries and secretaries have been requested to take necessary steps in this regard, the notification added.

Earlier in the day, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader also announced that the ongoing restrictions had been extended for two more days, until the country went into a hard lockdown.

Bangladesh is set to go into week-long lockdown with strict measures, during which all offices will be shut, from Wednesday.

On April 5, the country went into a lockdown for a week aiming to curb the current upward curve of Covid-19 transmission, but it proved to be ineffective in restricing public movement and enforcing health safety protocol.

Shopping malls and markets were reopened amid the ongoing lockdown, in face of protests from shop owners and employees, and public transport service was reinstated in the cities following demands from office goers.

On April 8, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government might opt for harsher measures in order to control the Covid-19 surge.

On April 9, Quader, also the general secretary of the Awami League, revealed that the government was planning for a new lockdown from April 14 as the ongoing lockdown failed to change the people’s behaviour during the pandemic.

 “The spread of the virus has become severe with cases and the death toll surging. People’s negligence and indifference are increasing too,” he said at the time.

Later in the day, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain that the new lockdown will come with strict rules.

All government, semi-government and private organizations, except for emergency service providers, will remain closed, he said. “Everyone will be under the purview of the lockdown.”

Bangladesh has been seeing a steep rise in Covid-19 deaths and infections in the last few weeks, with the highest ever single-day death tally and caseload recorded in the country in the past couple of days.

On Sunday, 78 new fatalities were reported, the highest single-day tally, taking the death toll to 9,739.

The caseload surged to 684,756 after 5,819 people tested positive in 24 hours, according to data released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The highest single-day caseload - 7,626 - was reported on April 7.