Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday signalled that the shutdown of offices and workplaces due to the coronavirus pandemic may be extended to April 9.
Hasina made the remark while handing out instructions on the prevention of the novel coronavirus outbreak to field-level officers across Bangladesh via video-conference from her official residence here, bdnews24 reported.
PM Hasina further said, “We had declared a 10-day holiday. But it might be extended by a few more days”.
Last week, Bangladesh 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.
She also mentioned several other measures to tackle the COVID-19’s spread in the country.
Following the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country, the Bangladeshi government declared a public holiday from March 26 to April 4 except for entities providing essential services.
The decisions were taken after Bangladesh health authorities last week reported another COVID-19 death that took the country’s death toll to three, while the number of infections rose to 33.
More than 35,000 people have died worldwide from the coronavirus pandemic since it emerged late last year in China, most of them in Europe.