Shutdown to extend until May 5

The government has decided in principle to extend the ongoing shutdown of all public and private offices till May 5 to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

"You can say [the ongoing] holiday is going to be extended till May 5. However, it's not final until the gazette is issued," Public Administration Secretary Shaikh Yusuf Harun told The Daily Star last night.

Asked about when the gazette will be issued, Harun said, "It's quite impossible [to issue it] today. [It would be issued] tomorrow."

A ministry official, wishing anonymity, said the government in principle decided to extend the shutdown until May 5 but it was taking time as some conditions of the leave would be changed. 

If extended, this would be fourth time the government extending shutdown after it first announced the closure of all public and private offices from March 26 to April 4. The first announcement was made on March 23.

On April 1, the government extended the shutdown from April 5 to 11 as the situation had not improved and on April 5 it extended the shutdown from April 12 to 14. Later, on April 10 it was extended till April 25.

However, emergency services remained out of the purview of the shutdown.

Utility services such as water, electricity, gas, fire service, telephone and the internet have also remained operational.

Transportation of agricultural products, fertilisers, insecticides, foods, goods, medical equipment, daily essentials and media, kitchen markets, restaurants, drug stores and hospitals remain out of the purview of the shutdown as well.

Amid a sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, a high profile meeting held on Tuesday also decided to extend the shutdown for at least one week.

DGHS yesterday said 10 people died of coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 120. Besides, 390 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the same period. With this, the total number of infected has reached 3,772.