Bangladesh to lift lockdown on Wednesday

IANS


Bangladesh is all set to end its weeks-long strict lockdown imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic on Wednesday.

The lifting of the lockdown will allow public and vehicular movement, while all shops and offices will also reopen, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bangladesh’s Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard on Sunday.

According to the circular, buses and trains can carry passengers at full capacity but can’t operate more than 50 per cent every day.

The resurgence in Covid-19 cases since June prompted the government to enforce the strict lockdown that began on July 1 and continued till July 14.

Bangladesh re-imposed the lockdown from July 23 to August 5 after relaxing restrictions for a week on the occasion of Eid al-Adha festival on July 21.

Again last week, the Bangladeshi government extended the nationwide strict lockdown for five more days until August 10 to further contain the spread of the the virus.

On Sunday, the country’s Directorate General of Health Services reported 10,299 new cases of Covid-19 and 241 new deaths, taking the overall infection tally to 13,53,695 and the total fatality toll to 22,652.