Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged individuals and organisations to provide relief materials to the poor and underprivileged people in a coordinated manner.
Many individuals and organisations came forward in distribution of relief, but the relief shall be distributed in a disciplined manner in coordination with local government administrations and law enforcement agencies, she said in a televised national address, on the eve of the Bangla New Year.
Otherwise, the risk of Covid-19 spreading further will remain, she said.
The prime minister requested the affluent people to continue supporting the poor who are in dire situation, because of the ongoing general holiday or partial shutdown aimed to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
The government had declared a nationwide general holiday from March 26 till April 4, which was later extended till April 14. On April 10, the general holiday was again extended till April 25, as the deadly novel coronavirus kept spreading more and kept infecting more people.
In absence of work due to the soft shutdown, the destitute people across the country started facing hardship worse than usual, leading many government and non-government organizations to come forward and distribute relief materials.
Bangladesh Police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh Railway, Dhaka University, and many other government and non-government organizations have donated varying amounts to the prime minister's relief fund.
With five new deaths reported on Monday, the total number of deaths in the country from Covid-19 has now reached 39.
The country also saw a sharp rise in infections as 182 new cases were recorded the same day, taking the total number of infected to 803.
