Amid the dramatic surge in coronavirus infections, Bangladesh is going into a nationwide hard lockdown from Monday (June 28) for seven days.
In a notification on Friday, the Information Ministry said that all government and private offices, except for emergency services will remain closed during the lockdown.
All kinds of transports, except for those carrying emergency supplies, will remain suspended, it said before adding ambulances and vehicles used for healthcare services and media will be exempted from the curbs.
No one will be allowed to leave home without emergency purposes.
The Cabinet Division will issue a detailed notification on Saturday, reads the notice by the ministry’s Press Information Department.
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The announcement comes after the national Covid-19 advisory panel on Thursday recommended imposing a nationwide shutdown for two weeks, with all kinds of offices remained closed.
Soon after the panel made the recommendation, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told the media that they were all set to impose a complete shutdown any time.
As Covid-19 cases kept growing at an alarming rate since mid-March this year, the government was forced to impose a nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 to contain the spread.
Later, a stricter set of restrictions on public movement and gathering were extended several times, including the latest one till July 15.
Additionally, the authorities across the country has been imposing district-wise restriction on public movement in areas with higher Covid-19 infections till now.
Also Read - Covid deaths rise by 108, second highest since start of pandemic
But now, with the fresh directive, a strict lockdown will take place across the nation.
On Friday, the death toll from Covid-19 rose by 108, the second highest single-day jump since the pandemic unfolded last year in Bangladesh.
The caseload surged by 5,869 to 878,804, according to the latest government data. The daily infection rate rose to 21.22%, up from 15% a week ago.
Amid the dramatic surge in infections, public experts fear that the pandemic in Bangladesh could take a catastrophic turn.
