The ongoing travel and other restrictions will be extended for a week from tomorrow considering the current situation of Covid-19 in the country.

The cabinet division yesterday issued a circular in this regard as the existing lockdown, imposed to curb the spike in Covid-19 cases, will expire after midnight today.

However, special flights and banking will go on, it stated.

The cabinet has also decided to open accounts offices at the field level on a limited scale to prevent disruption in development and regular activities due to the restriction on movement.

The cabinet division on April 12 issued a circular regarding a "strict lockdown" from 6:00am on April 14 to April 21 midnight as its earlier version failed to keep people at home.

On Monday, the cabinet division sent a proposal to extend the restrictions to the Prime Minister's Office for approval following a meeting held virtually between secretaries of different ministries and business association leaders.

The duration of the ongoing restriction has been extended from April 21 midnight to April 28 midnight. Special flights and banking activities will operate as they have during the restrictions from April 14.

As per the circular, all public and private offices will stay closed and all modes of transport will remain suspended.

Nobody is allowed to go outdoors unless there is an emergency such as buying medicine and essentials or taking treatment.

Meanwhile, in a separate notice, the cabinet division asked the finance division to take steps to open accounts offices.

"Due to the closure of accounts offices at the field level, development and regular activities of the government at different levels are being hampered," reads the notice signed by Rezaul Islam, a deputy secretary.

The current fiscal year is about to end and considering the situation, it is requested to open divisional, district and upazila accounts offices on a limited scale, according to the notice.

Meanwhile, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 in its 31st meeting held virtually on Sunday night suggested another week-long strict lockdown to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus, according to a press release from the committee.

The press release said the experts expressed satisfaction over the current lockdown and recommended formulation of a plan to lift the restrictions in phases.