The ongoing restrictions on public movement, which many still call lockdown, have been extended by another week till June 6 to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard on Sunday. Earlier, the government has relaxed the restrictions imposed on movement of inter-district public vehicles.
Currently, all kinds of public transport are operating across the country carrying passengers at half the capacity. Hotels and restaurants are also allowed to keep open with half of their capacities.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain said that the ongoing restrictions on public movement would continue until the daily infection rate drops to at least 5 percent.
He said that the move came on the advice of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19. He said this while talking to reporters at his ministry office at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday.
An official of the ministry said that the government is concerned about another possible wave of Covid-19 in June due to the detection of the Indian variant in some parts of Bangladesh. Lockdown is being imposed in the border areas and needs to be imposed on areas with high infection rate as well, he added.
The government imposed a ban on travel to and from neighbouring India in three phases to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and the new variant of the deadly disease. The travel ban has been extended for another 14 days, confirmed State Minister Farhad Hossain.
As the coronavirus cases kept growing at an alarming rate in the country since mid-March, the government had imposed nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 as part of its move to contain the spread of Covid-19. Later, a ‘stricter’ lockdown was announced from April 14 to April 21. Then the lockdown as well as restriction on public movement had been extended several times considering the situation.
On April 23, the Cabinet Division issued a notice allowing shops and shopping malls to operate from April 25 on the condition that they would maintain safety protocols properly. The Cabinet Division in its May 23 notice said that all the concerned, including passengers, will have to maintain health rules like wearing masks. Hotels and restaurants will be allowed to keep open, also with half of their capacities.
UNB adds: Bangladesh has announced an extension of border closure with India by another two weeks from June 1.
Border with India will remain closed till June 14 but the movements of cargoes carrying goods will remain uninterrupted.
"We've extended it for 14 more days and will evaluate the situation further," a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB on Sunday.
The movement of passengers through the Bangladesh-India border has remained suspended since April 26.
