27 districts now under full or partial lockdown
Eight buildings and three shops locked down in Chattogram while Jamalpur put on full lockdown on Thursday
The authorities in Chattogram locked down eight buildings and three shops in the city's Halishahar, Sitakunda and Sagorika areas after three people tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday while Jamalpur administration put the district on complete lockdown.
With this, 27 districts have been put on partial or complete lockdown in Bangladesh as the number of Covid-19 positive cases has been rising every day.
Cox's Bazar, Narayanganj, Tangail, Netrakona, Jamalpur, Khulna and Lalmonirhat are under full lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Twenty districts, including Dhaka, are under partial lockdown as several clusters with coronavirus infection have been detected in these districts.
More than 65 clusters in the Dhaka metropolitan area have been locked down so far.
Apart from the capital, infection clusters have been locked down in Gazipur, Lakshmipur, Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Satkhira, Jashore, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Chandpur, Chuadanga, Rajbari, Barishal, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Manikganj, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Gaibandha.
Local administration in a number of districts has imposed a ban on the entry and exit of all kinds of vehicle. Movement of people has been restricted except for those in special and emergency need; there are also bans on movement of vehicles except for those providing utility and emergency services.
On Thursday, Bangladesh confirmed one more death from the novel coronavirus and 112 new cases of infection in the country. With this, the death toll from Covid-19 rose to 21 and the infection rose to 330.
Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police Abdul Waris and Sitakunda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Milton Ray told The Business Standard that eight buildings and three shops in the district were locked down on Thursday.
The authorities locked down the Anderkilla branch of Bank Asia in the port city as an employee tested positive for Covid-19 infection. They also instructed 15 employees of the bank to stay in quarantine.
The district's administration had locked down six buildings in the city's Dampara area April 3.
The Jamalpur administration locked down the entire district after another patient had been found with Covid-19 infection.
Sources in the district's Civil Surgeon office said the infected patient was aged around 35. The district's first Covid-19 case was confirmed a few days ago.
Deputy Commissioner Md Enamul Haque said all steps have been taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the district.
On Wednesday, the Cox's Bazar administration locked down the district indefinitely to contain the spread of the coronavirus there.
"We want to keep the people of Cox's Bazar safe from the virus. We do not want anyone from our district to get infected. We are imposing the lockdown so that no one can get in or out of the district," Deputy Commissioner Kamal Hossain told The Business Standard.
"We have been asking people to stay indoors and supplying them food," he said.
Bangladesh first locked down Shibchar, an upazila of Madaripur district, on March 19.
The government declared a general holiday on March 26 to contain the virus' spread and ensure social distancing. The holiday was ultimately extended until April 14.
