Bangladesh To Impose 7-Day Nationwide Lockdown From April 5 Amid COVID-19 Surge

Bangladesh government has decided to impose a week-long nationwide lockdown starting from Monday, April 5. 

Representative Image (File Photo/ AFP)

Amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the country, Bangladesh government has decided to impose a week-long nationwide lockdown, starting from Monday, April 5. 

Road Transport Minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader while addressing a regular briefing from his official residence on Saturday morning reportedly said that the government is all set to announce a countrywide week-long lockdown. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bangladesh government has decided to enforce a seven-day lockdown from April 5th as coronavirus cases and deaths are surging across the country: Bangladesh media<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#COVID19</a></p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1378247067915624449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>April 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain confirmed the news saying, "Every office and court will be closed during this lockdown but industries and mills will continue their operation on rotation." 

As per the guidelines, the order does not apply to utility and emergency services. Factories will remain open and workers can work shifts by following hygiene rules. 

The decision has been taken at the time when the country reported  6,830 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, which is the highest count in a day, taking the tally of infections to 624,594. According to data released by the government, there were 50 new deaths yesterday, pushing the tally to 9,155. 

Last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his two-day visit to Dhala, gifted 1.2 million doses of domestically produced Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a part of its vaccine diplomacy programme. He also handed over a representational key of 109 life-saving ambulances to Bangladesh to fight against the deadly COVID-19.