Bangladesh extends pandemic curbs by another month as virus cases flare up

Bangladesh has decided to extend its pandemic restrictions by another month to Jul 15 in the wake of a spike in cases and deaths, but offices will be allowed to open if they follow health protocols.

A notice issued from the Cabinet Division on Wednesday stated that restrictions will remain in place for another month in consideration of ‘the current state of the pandemic’.

But government, semi-public, non-government and private offices, banks and private financial institutions will be allowed to open if they do so in accordance with regulations.

On Apr 14, the government imposed its ‘strictest lockdown’, imposing restrictions on all travel outside the home except in case of emergency.

All public and private offices, except those that provided emergency services, were closed under those restrictions.

The latest decision from the government will allow offices to reopen, but has kept all other restrictions in place.

Bangladesh reported another 60 new fatalities from the coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total death toll to 13,282, according to the latest government data. It was the highest daily death count since May 4.

The tally of infections also surged by 3,956 to 837,247, the highest jump in one day since Apr 22.

Reports from new virus ‘hotspot’ Rajshahi indicate that the pandemic is spreading from urban areas to villages, raising concern among authorities in the district.

Globally, over 176.64 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 3.82 million have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.