The ongoing ubiquitous lockdown to curb the second wave of coronavirus transmission, which expires on April 28, may not be extended, according to Farhad Hossain, State Minister for Public Administration.
Quoting Farhad Hossain, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Public Administration Shibli Sadiq told Bangladesh Post over mobile phone yesterday, "Everything will start to relax from April 28 but health protocols including wearing masks and maintaining physical distance will remain to be followed." However, official announcement is yet to come.
"There will be a meeting before the ongoing lockdown ends and the concerning bodies will come into a decision officially," he added.
According to a communique issued by the cabinet yesterday, shopping malls and shops will be opened from tomorrow (Sunday) for the livelihood of the common people. The decision was taken looking on the livelihood of low-income people and to keep the country's economy afloat ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, said the State Minister for Public Administration.
Meanwhile, the tenth day of the all-out lockdown elapsed loosely yesterday. As it was a holiday, number of traffic on roads has been lessened due to non-availability of office-going commuters. Police personnel on duty at various check posts were not seen to be so strict in controlling the movement of people.
Earlier, to contain the second wave of Coronavirus transmission, the government announced a seven-day lockdown from April 5. Erupting in anger, some shop owners and employees took to the streets demanding the opening of shops. As a few number of office and services were left open, respective office and factory bound people suffered as well for the public transports were on a halt.
To alleviate the sufferings, public transports were allowed to ply again from April 7.
To meet the demands of the traders, the government decided to open shops and shopping malls from April 9 on the condition of complying with health protocols.
However, as the transmission continued to rise, the government tightened again. An 'all-out' lockdown was imposed that started on April 14 announcing the closure of all shopping malls, shops, offices. Movement of public transports was banned.
The harsher version of lockdown has been extended for another week till April 28, in accordance with the previous conditions.
In such a circumstance, the government has become flexible again considering the livelihood of mass people ahead of the Eid-Ul-Fitr.
