The ongoing lockdown, which will continue till May 5 to prevent Coronavirus transmission, may be extended by relaxing some restrictions.
This was learnt from officials of the Ministry of Public Administration. However, final decision in this regard is yet to be taken at the inter-ministerial meeting.
This information was given by the sources of the cabinet division and the ministry of public administration on Thursday.
According to the latest communique from the Cabinet Division, the ongoing lockdown will end at midnight on May 5. Later, there will be weekly holidays on May 7 and 8. Then May 10 is the holiday of Holy Shab-E- Kadar. Depending on the sighting of the moon, Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims will be on May 13 or 14. Therefore, Eid-ul-Fitr holidays will be effective from May 12.
Excluding weekly holidays and other holidays, there remain three working days before Eid. Officials say it is unlikely that the restrictions will be lifted in the short term.
A cabinet official said, "The government is considering keeping the restrictions in place as there are fewer working days before Eid. However, limited public transport may be allowed in accordance with the health protocols."
"We are thinking of relaxing some conditions and increasing the restrictions. An inter-ministerial meeting will be held before the end of the ongoing restrictions. That meeting will take a final decision on the matter."
Farhad Hossain, State Minister for Public Administration said on Thursday, "It's true that we are considering something like not lifting up the lockdown. However, no final decision has been taken yet. We are still reviewing the situation."
In response to the second wave of Coronavirus transmission, the government imposed an all-out lockdown on April 14 to 21, keeping the mills and industries open. The lockdown was then extended in two phases from 22 to 28 and from 29 to 5 May.
Meanwhile, the government has given permission to reopen shops and shopping malls since last Sunday. Banks too have been given a green signal to operate their works from 10 am to 2 pm in a limited manner. Now, only public transport and government offices without emergency are closed.
According to a concerned source, the public transport workers are suffering the most in this year's lockdown. The government had a thought of letting the vehicles ply at a limited range from April 29. But considering the deadly Indian variant of the coronavirus, that thought has been dropped out. However, if the situation improves in the next one week, there is a possibility of launching Eid-centric public transport.
It may be mentioned that, the rate of transmission in the country has started to drop in the last few days. The situation will be dire if the rate of infection does not keep falling down. This is why, it is being considered to bring the situation under control by extending the duration of the lockdown.
