The government has temporarily banned all public gatherings, including religious and socio-cultural gatherings across the country in the face of global coronavirus outbreak.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) through a video conference on Thursday afternoon gave the order as part of a preventive measure to maintain safety to avoid coronavirus infection.
In the order issued by the PMO at 4:00pm, the route-level administrations have been asked to impose ban on all kinds gatherings including rallies and socio-cultural functions.
The route-level administrations have been ordered strictly to ensure the ban so that no such gatherings could take place anywhere in the country.
The video conference was held by cabinet secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam and Prime Minister’s Chief Secretary Ahmed Kaykaus.
Besides, secretaries of different ministries and divisions and top officials of the government also attended.
It should be mentioned that the coronavirus outbreak has appeared as a serious epidemic across the world leaving more than 8,000 people dead and around 2,00,000 infected in less than four months.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said the government will lock down the most vulnerable areas of the country -- such as Madaripur and Faridpur -- if the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
The minister made the remarks while briefing reporters about the current coronavirus situation at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in Mohakhali in the afternoon.
“Over 5,000 people across the country were tested in the last 24 hours on suspicion of coronavirus infection,” said the minister, adding that the government is trying to collect more than one lakh testing kits for coronavirus detection.
The minister said the government has already identified several hospitals in Dhaka to treat coronavirus patients and are also preparing 2,000 beds to mitigate the crisis.
"If the situations worsens, we will quarantine people and provide them necessary treatment at Ijtema grounds which will remain under the supervision of Bangladesh Army," he informed.
He urged expats not to return to Bangladesh for the time being, considering the greater interest of the country and their family members and asked people to abide by directions of IEDCR.
The minister also urged journalists not to publish exaggerated reports on coronavirus which may create panic among people.
