Govt issues gazette extending public movement restrictions till May 16

The government has extended the ongoing restrictions on public movement and gathering for another week in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

The restrictions have been extended from of May 5 midnight till May 16 midnight, said a gazette notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Wednesday.

The gazette included six more directives imposing restrictions on people’s movement alongside the existing ones.

1. All the staff of government, semi-government, autonomous, private offices, banks and financial institutions have to stay in their respective work stations during the Eid vacation.

2. The shops and malls will remain open as per previous schedule from 10am to 8pm maintaining strict hygiene rules. They will be shut down if any violation of health regulations is found.

3. The inter-district bus service will remain suspended. But the public transports will be allowed ply inside cities and districts following health rules from May 5. Besides, long-route buses and trains will remain suspended.

4. The use of face masks has to be ensured everywhere. If it is necessary, legal action has to be taken using mobile courts.

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5. All social, political and religious gatherings have to be stopped.

6. In order to prevent Covid-19, the Ministry of Information and the concerned city corporation or municipality will undertake a massive publicity campaign to raise awareness regarding the mandatory wearing of masks, maintaining social distance and other health rules in the city corporations, district headquarters and municipal areas.

Authorities concerned have been requested to give instructions to take necessary action over the above mentioned matters, the notice added.

As coronavirus cases continued to rise alarmingly since mid-March, the government imposed “loose” nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 as part of its move to contain its spread. 

Later, a “stricter” lockdown was declared from April 14 to 21, which was then extended to May 5.

However, in the face of growing demand, the government gave permission for a reopening of shops and malls across the country from April 25.

Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh registered 61 deaths from Covid-19 in the 24 hours till Tuesday morning. 

With the latest development, the total number of deaths reached 11,705 in the country.

The country also logged a total of 765,596 coronavirus cases with 1,914 people testing positive over the same period.

The latest figures show an infection rate of 8.71%. To date, 5,540,394 tests have been conducted in the country, leading to an overall infection rate of 13.82%.

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18.