Mapping of two virus hotbeds for Covid-19 in the Wari area under the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has been completed.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) shared a map of the two red zones in Wari with the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) on Wednesday.
DSCC agreed to impose lockdown on the areas mapped, said an official.
“We are prepared to impose lockdown after getting the government order from the Local Government Division,” said Brig Gen Dr Sharif Ahmed, chief health officer (CHO) of DSCC.
“We could impose a lockdown within 48 to 72 hours once we get the order,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
DSCC had earlier called a coordination meeting to impose lockdown on Thursday which got cancelled.
Meanwhile, Helal Uddin Ahmed, senior secretary of the Local Government Division (LGD), said: “We will not issue any order related to lockdown. DGHS will fix the map discussing with the city corporation, and the Ministry of Public Administration will announce a public holiday in the red zone.”
However, Sharif said: “As LGD is the supervising ministry of city corporations, we think they will issue an order.”
DSCC sources said the city corporation expected to get the order either from LGD or the Ministry of Public Administration on Sunday. So, the lockdown would likely be imposed from Tuesday or Wednesday.
Besides, DGHS sources said mapping is almost completed for other red zones of Dhaka, such as that of Wari.
“Mapping is underway and it will be done gradually to contain the red zone. We are recommending containment of an area to control coronavirus spread; not lockdown,” said Dr Jahirul Karim, member secretary of the Central Technical Group on Covid-19.
“However, lockdown is the most popular term for the layman. But there is some difference between lockdown and containment. We always use the term containment in public documents,” said Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir, joint secretary and joint project director of Access to Information (A2i).
Besides, the LGD formed a coordination cell for monitoring coronavirus situations, including executing lockdowns, in the red zones across the country in a synchronized way.
The 15-member committee led by additional secretary of LGD Md Zahirul Islam would coordinate execution of lockdowns across the country after getting area-specific maps from DGHS.
However, Helal Uddin Ahmed, senior secretary of LGD said: “The cell will supervise all issues regarding Covid-19, not only for issues pertaining to lockdown.”
“We have formed a divisional level committee also to support the central cell,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
According to the officials of LGD, the cell will prepare the guidelines for coordination between the city corporations and other agencies while executing the area-specific lockdowns in the red zones across the country.
“The central cell will update the minister with briefs and take instructions,” said the official.
The LGD formed the cell as many municipalities started to impose lockdown in the districts.
