No ‘movement passes’ for lockdown

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam says that ‘movement pass’ privileges will not be offered for the ‘strict lockdown’ that is to be imposed in Bangladesh from Jul 1.

“There will be no movement pass this time around,” he said after a Cabinet meeting on Monday. “No one will be allowed to leave home unless there is an emergency.”

Asked how people could leave home without the pass, the cabinet secretary said: “You can leave home for burials and such. After all, you can’t do that at home. You can take patients to the hospital.”

The army, BGB, and police will be on patrol during the lockdown, Islam said.

“The armed forces will be on patrol. If anyone ignores their orders, legal action will be available to them.”

Additional information, such as whether garment factories and export-oriented industries would be allowed to remain open and whether rickshaws could operate, will be relayed in a later notice, the cabinet secretary said.

“We held video conferences with four divisions and, after considering the situation, those who were at the field level – commissioners, DC, DIG, SP, civil surgeons and public representatives – everyone made it clear that parts of the country are on orange, red or brown alert. As such, our only option is to impose strict restrictions. They will take effect from Jul 1.”

Implementation strategies will be decided in a meeting led by the home minister on Tuesday, he said.

Asked how those who live hand to mouth would cope during the lockdown, he said:

“The state minister of relief has been instructed to do what we can under the social security programmes. As these issues are more pronounced in urban areas, we have told the ministry to monitor the situation there carefully and ensure they have support.”

Asked whether the lockdown could be extended after Jul 7, he said: “In our experience, the number of cases fell significantly after Chapainawabganj went through a strict lockdown. Satkhira’s situation has improved as well. The situation has improved wherever we’ve imposed movement restrictions. But if the government believes we need another seven days of lockdown, it will be discussed.”

The Cabinet Division issued a notice on Sunday detailing the heightened restrictions that took effect ahead of the lockdown.

These restrictions will remain in place until the lockdown begins on Jul 1.

Bangladesh posted a record 119 deaths on Sunday, the highest logged in a day since the start of the pandemic, taking the total toll from Covid to 14,172.

It also registered 5,268 new cases in the same period, taking the tally of infections to 888,406.

Globally, about 180.8 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and nearly 3.92 million have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

Bangladesh enforces strict restrictions from 1 July, army to be deployed