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reporters. Industries will remain open and employees will work in shifts, following the health guidelines, he added.
The move comes as the Covid-19 positivity rate reached 23.15 percent yesterday. The average positivity rate was below 3 percent in February.
Besides, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 last week recommended “partial or modified” lockdown on “high-risk” areas. The government issued an 18-point directive, including restrictions on offices and public transport.
Covid-19 cases began to rise again from March 9.
The highest 31.91 percent positivity rate was seen on August 3 last year. The number of daily cases remained high between May and August last year, and stayed low in September and October.
There was a little spike in November and the first half of December. Confirmed cases fell below 1,000 on December 26 and the trend continued until the first week of March.
The government shut down public and private offices and suspended public transport operations from March 26-May 30 last year. The authorities later imposed restrictions on specific areas with high infection rates.
But the shutdown could not be properly implemented, especially during the Eid festivals when tens of thousands people left Dhaka for their villages homes. Besides, the garments factories were allowed to operate.
Labourers and low-income people were forced to leave home to earn a living.
After the ministers’ announcements yesterday, people rushed to the bus and launch terminals in the capital to leave for their hometown. Many people said the one-week restriction would be extended later.
People also rushed to kitchen markets and grocery stores to stock up on the essentials.
Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan yesterday said train services will be suspended “once the lockdown is imposed”. However, there will be no restrictions on freight trains.
The authorities have cancelled exams and shut down tourist destinations like Cox’s Bazar and the Sundarbans.
Besides, Boisabi Utsab, the biggest traditional festival of the indigenous communities of the hill tracks, has been cancelled, reports UNB.
POSSIBLE STEPS
Sources said the Cabinet Division sent a proposal to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recommending a ban or limit on public movement and other activities.
It said the law enforcers would strictly enforce travel restrictions between districts while the general public would not be allowed outdoors between 8:00pm and 6:00am, unless there is an emergency.
Public and private offices would remain open on a limited scale, but the employees would not be allowed to leave the city of their work. Rally, mass gathering, and social programmes should be banned.
Only five people would be allowed inside a mosque at a time. For Juma prayers, no more than 10 people would be allowed.
Markets of daily necessaries would be moved to open spaces.
Fertiliser, insecticide, food, essential goods, medical equipment, daily essentials, kitchen markets, restaurants, drug stores, hospitals and the media would also remain out of the purview of the shutdown.
Prof Ridwanur Rahman, an infectious diseases specialist, said, “As a physician, I would say we need a complete shutdown for two weeks as hospitals are at capacity.
This [complete shutdown] is scientific and the best approach now. But considering livelihood, the new measure is not bad. It will partially contribute to slowing down the transmission.”
He told The Daily Star yesterday that the success would depend on how effectively the measures are implemented. “In the past, we have seen such measures exist only on papers.”
Prof Nazrul Islam, member of the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19, said, “I do not see any scientific basis in the government decision. Be it lockdown or movement restriction, it must be for 15 days, considering the incubation period of the virus. Otherwise, those infected will spread infection after seven days.”