The government has decided to allocate a total of Tk33 crore to city corporations, municipalities and upazila parishads to bolster their efforts to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading further in the country.
The decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting on coronavirus with Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam in the chair at his office in Dhaka, reports BSS.
Of the amount, Tk18.50 crore was allocated to 12 city corporations for conducting coronavirus prevention activities, mosquito elimination and cleanliness drives, the meeting was informed.
Tk9.52 crore was given to 328 municipalities to purchase germicide and safety materials to protect people, while 492 upazila parishads got Tk5 crore for undertaking necessary steps on coronavirus prevention at union-level.
Besides, the Department of Public Health Engineering, under Local Government Division (LGD), has set up hand washing establishments – eight at divisional cities, five at district towns and one at every upazila – for ensuring safety of the people.
LGD Senior Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed and senior officials were also present at the meeting.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 39 cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus strain, and five deaths.
The government has declared a 10-day holiday, cancelled state programs and shut down educational institutions to contain the fast-spreading virus.
The Covid-19 global pandemic, which started in China’s Wuhan city in late December last year, has so far infected more than 452,100 people and killed over 20,400 in 196 countries and territories around the world, according to worldometer.
