The Covid-19 National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) has recommended the government to close the ongoing Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2021 in a bid to tackle the new Covid-19 wave.
A press release, signed by the committee President Prof Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, was issued in this regard on Thursday.
It has also proposed to halt all types of social events and shut other recreational centres to curb the spread of coronavirus.
At its meeting, the committee also recommended increasing ICUs and Covid-19 ward beds at Dhaka hospitals to deal with the increasing stream of patients, reports UNB.
It welcomed the 18-point directive issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and emphasized formulating a specific action plan in this regard.
Book fair hours curtailed
The surge in coronavirus cases forced the Book Fair management to cut short the daily operational hours.
Currently, the fair remains open from 3pm to 6:30pm daily.
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded its highest daily coronavirus cases on Thursday when the health authorities confirmed 6,469 new infections in the last 24 hours.
The infection rate also jumped to 22.94% from 19.9% on Wednesday.