Bangladesh extends nationwide Covid lockdown by a week as fatalities keep rising

The government has extended the ongoing movement restrictions for 7 more days.

The decision was taken at a meeting of secretaries in Dhaka on Monday.

“The lockdown will remain in force from April 22 to 28 with the same restrictions imposed in the previous week. It’ll be a tougher one,” said State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossian.

The decision comes in line with the advice of the Covid-19 National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) to extend the ongoing lockdown for another week to break the current chain of infection transmission, he told to the media.

“Taking that into consideration, the lockdown time has been extended from April 22-26 and a summary of the decision has been prepared and sent to the prime minister for approval. A gazette notification will be issued after the decision is approved,” he added.

Following a virtual meeting on Sunday night, NTAC has recommended another week of strict lockdown to control the spread of the deadly virus in the country.

Previously, NTAC recommended a full lockdown for at least two weeks. The government has already implemented a weeklong lockdown from April 14 and the committee expressed satisfaction over that.

However, scientifically effective results cannot be expected in less than two weeks of lockdown. 

The committee realized the need to keep the industries open in the interest of keeping the country's economy afloat. However, private offices, banks being kept open, increasing private car traffic, unwanted and unnecessary extra crowds in the Iftar markets make the success of the lockdown uncertain.

NTAC advised keeping everything closed except for health, fire service, and other emergency services.