Online Desk: The ongoing restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus will continue for Monday and Tuesday, says Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

He made the announcement at a virtual press briefing on Sunday from his residence

Bangladesh is set to go into weeklong lockdown with strict measures, during which offices will be shut, from Wednesday.

The current lockdown will end on the midnight of Sunday. However, shopping malls and markets have been reopened amid the lockdown, in face of protests from shop owners and employees, and public transport service was reinstated in the cities following demands from office goers.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government might opt for harsher measures in order to control the Covid-19 surge.

On Friday, Quader, the general secretary of the Awami League, revealed that the government was planning for a new lockdown from April 14 as the ongoing lockdown failed to change the people’s behaviour during the pandemic.

 “The spread of the virus has become severe with cases and the death toll surging. People’s negligence and indifference are increasing too,” he said at the time.

Later in the day, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain that the new lockdown will come with strict rules.

All government, semi-government and private organizations, except for emergency service providers, will remain closed, he said before adding: “Everyone will be under the purview of the lockdown.”

Bangladesh has been seeing a steep rise in Covid-19 deaths and infections in the last few weeks, with the highest ever single-day death tally and caseload recorded in the country in the past couple of days.

On Saturday, 77 new fatalities were reported, the most in a daily count, taking the death toll to 9,661.

The caseload surged to 678,937 after 5,343 people tested positive in 24 hours, according to data released by the government.

Source Dhaka Tribune