The decision comes about a week after Bangladesh withdrew the nationwide lockdown at the end of the last month.
A railway official (L) checks the temperature of a woman queueing to enter the Kamalapur railway station after the government-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus ended, in Dhaka (Photo: AFP)
In an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bangladesh government has planned to reimpose area-wise lockdowns in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, according to the senior Health Ministry official.
On Saturday, Habibur Rahman Khan, also the convenor of the Bangladeshi government’s media cell on COVID-19, said that steps were underway to place parts of Bangladesh under lockdown within the next few days.
The decision comes about a week after Bangladesh withdrew the nationwide lockdown at the end of the last month.
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He further said that lockdowns will initially be implemented on a limited scale in this city.
“Gradually, we’ll take steps to place more cities and towns elsewhere in the country under lockdown as well.”
Since March 8, the virus has spread to nearly every Bangladeshi district and the number of cases has increased to 63,026 with 846 deaths.
The government had extended it several times to May 16 at the earliest, but eased some curbs such as allowing factories to reopen.
In March, the country announced a stimulus package of 50 billion taka ($5.9 million) to help export-oriented industries to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic at home and abroad.
The shutdown of all offices, workplaces and public transport system has been in place since March 26 after the detection of the first coronavirus cases and fatalities in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the total number of global coronavirus has surged to over 6.8 million, while the death toll was nearing 400,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
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