Hasina opens her address to nation to outline coronavirus battle

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has begun addressing the nation a day before the Independence Day amid widespread fears of the coronavirus outbreak.

The speech is being broadcast on state-run media from 7:30pm on Wednesday.

As the world continues to go into lockdown to battle the pandemic, Hasina is outlining measures to contain the disease and its impact on the economy in her speech.

“We cannot take any impulsive decision now. We have to take comprehensive preparations and plan when to do what,” Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said on Mar 23, when he was asked whether Hasina could announce a lockdown in her speech.

On Wednesday, the global death toll from the coronavirus hit 18,918 with the number of infections rising to 423,121, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Bangladesh confirmed another death due to the infection on Wednesday, taking the number of fatalities to five but no cases of infection were reported in the last 24 hours.

There is uneasiness surrounding the risks of a rapid spread in a densely populated country like Bangladesh. The shutdown of all education centres and a ban on public gatherings came initially. The government then declared a shutdown of all offices with a 10-day general holiday from Mar 26. Local trains, passenger launches and domestic flights have been suspended since Tuesday.