Ongoing lockdown eased ahead of Eid

The government have relaxed the ongoing strict lockdown on movement restrictions from July 14 midnight to July 23 morning, considering the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha which is scheduled to be celebrated on July 21 across the country.

The Cabinet Division on Tuesday issued a notification in this regard.

However, the strict lockdown will be re-imposed from July 23 to August 5, said the Cabinet Division.

During this time of relaxing the strict lockdown ahead of Eid, cattle markets will remain open across the country including the capital.

Public transports and long-haul buses will resume on a limited scale maintaining the health safety guidelines from July 15.

Besides, the shopping malls and markets across the country will be allowed to reopen during this time.

Trains across the country will be operated at half of their passenger capacity from July 15. The tickets will be available online.

Launches and water vessels will also be granted to operate under certain conditions.

Earlier, a Press Information Department (PID) handout on Monday hinted the relaxation of the ongoing strict lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus infections.

The decision to ease the ongoing strict lockdown comes considering the livelihoods of the country’s poor people, who have been suffering a lot due to the lockdown.

However, the decision to ease the lockdown comes at a hard time when the government of the country are struggling to tackle the surge of the coronavirus.

Bangladesh lost at least 2,136 lives due to the coronavirus in less than two weeks of July while the country reported at least 2,404 fatalities in April.

Health experts fear that such a decision to ease the lockdown would lead to a further increase in virus infections across the country.

The health authorities have already warned that if the current situation is not mitigated properly, the crisis of coronavirus will deteriorate further.

Earlier, the government had imposed a nationwide strict lockdown from July 1 to curb the spread of coronavirus infection. It was later extended for another week, which will end at midnight on July 14.