Officials at Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) say they are waiting for a list of specific areas which need to be locked down, for their next course of action to curb the spread of Covid-19.
According to them, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is supposed to provide the list so they can impose lockdowns in the areas recognized as red zones.
“Once we get the map from DGHS, we will need at least 48 to 72 hours to impose complete lockdown in an area,” said Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, mayor of DSCC.
He made the statement briefing reporters after a coordination meeting at Nagar Bhaban on Tuesday, regarding lockdowns in different locations of Dhaka south.
“DGHS has informed us that we will get the list before the end of this week.”
Echoing the same, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam said: “We cannot lockdown a large area like Uttara or Mirpur. We need a map that will tell us where exactly we need to enforce a lockdown.”
He said this in a video sent to the media by the DNCC on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, DGHS made a draft list of 45 designated red zones in Dhaka, 17 in Dhaka north, and 28 in Dhaka south.
Since then the Health Ministry said it will not be necessary to lockdown an entire red zone. Rather, restrictions will be imposed on specific portions of these areas.
Taposh said: “The top brass of the government also doesn't want to impose lockdowns on large areas.”
A newsbrief from the Health Ministry said a zone wise lockdown had already been introduced experimentally in Dhaka south’s Wari.
However, the DSCC mayor told this correspondent he did not give any such directives for any areas in his city corporation.