Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Rajshahi Hamidul Haque has urged local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to stop collecting loan instalments from low-income people until April 30.
He made the urge as the poor people have been left without any work following the coronavirus outbreak, reports UNB.
"Considering the situation of poor people, all NGOs of the district are requested to stop realizing loan instalments until April 30," he wrote on his personal Facebook account on Monday noon.
"Low-income people like rickshaw-pullers and auto-rickshaw drivers are overburdened with loans from NGOs. Their main income source was carrying students, which has been stopped. Considering this situation, stop realizing loan instalments from these low-income people," the DC said.
On March 19, Transport Workers Union of the district suspended bus services on all the long-haul routes from Rajshahi aiming to curb the spread of coronavirus or Covid-19.
Meanwhile, 83 more people were sent to home-quarantine in the district in the last 24 hours, confirmed Rajshahi Civil Surgeon Dr Enamul Haque.
Altogether 210 people are in home-quarantine in the district, he said, adding that 21 others have already completed their quarantine period.
In the meantime, Bangladesh reported the third death from the coronavirus on Monday and six new coronavirus cases, including a health worker.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has increased to 33, said Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
The fast spreading coronavirus, a pandemic announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), has claimed more than 16,500 lives and infected over 379,000 people across the world, according to Worldometer.
Thousands of Bangladeshis have returned from various countries since the outbreak started and most of them did not follow the rules of home quarantine.
Health experts say a coronavirus outbreak in a densely populated country like Bangladesh will be difficult to tackle.
