Shopping hours extended for Dhaka amid Covid lockdown

The government has decided to allow the shopping malls and stores in Dhaka to remain open until 9pm provided that the Covid health safety rules are maintained properly.

The decision comes following a revision done by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Sunday considering the month of Ramadan and upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

DMP Additional Commissioner (Traffic) Munibur Rahman told media that the decision for letting shopping malls and markets operate from 10am to 5pm has been changed and extended to 9pm.

Earlier on Friday, the government had decided to reopen all shops and malls across the country from Sunday.

The shops and malls were supposed to remain open from 10am to 5pm every day. 

Also Read - Crowds return as shops, malls reopen

A gazette notification in this regard was issued by the Cabinet Division.

The decision has been taken considering the livelihood of people, said the notice.

During the strict lockdown that began on April 14, the government closed all shops and markets across the country.

However, online sales were allowed only after maintaining hygiene rules. Besides, kitchen markets and grocery shops remained open for certain hours amid the lockdown.

Also Read - Shops, malls to reopen from April 25

Bangladesh has been again seeing a steep rise in Covid-19 deaths and infections in the last few weeks, taking the tally of the total infected to 745,322 and fatalities to 11,053 till Sunday.

Starting from April 7, the country has gone through a soft lockdown and a strict lockdown. 

The first phase of strict lockdown started on April 14 and ended on April 21 midnight. The second phase started from 6am on April 22 and will continue till April 28.