BNP on Thursday said the government’s decision of not extending the general holiday after May 30 amid the spike in coronavirus cases is “suicidal.”
“The government wants to prove that they’re stronger than coronavirus by lifting the so-called lockdown in the name of holiday. Millions of people have been made vulnerable to infection with the withdrawal of the holiday,” said BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Speaking at a virtual press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office on Thursday, he said: “This is the biggest suicidal decision of the government.”
The BNP leader warned that the government will have to take all the responsibilities for coronavirus fatalities following the withdrawal of the shutdown, reports UNB
The government on Thursday issued a gazette notification regarding the resumption of offices and the operation of public transports on a limited scale from May 31 to June 15 as the public holidays will end on May 30.
The government declared public holidays from March 26 by shutting down all non-essential services.
Rizvi said the government is relaxing the shutdown when it should have strictly enforced it and increased the testing capacity as the number of fresh cases and deaths are increasing alarmingly.
“The government is following a path which will only increase the deaths from the virus,” he said, adding that the government has failed to tackle the coronavirus situation because of irresponsible and unplanned moves and activities.
Earlier in the day, health authorities here confirmed the detection of record 2,029 new patients in the last 24 hours, raising the total cases to 40,321. Fifteen more people died from coronavirus during this period, taking the death tally to 559.