Bangladesh extends lockdown till May 16 fearing second wave of COVID-19

Bangladesh extended the country’s ongoing lockdown till May 16, a move that comes as the Sheikh Hasina administration steps up to battle the ongoing Coronavirus situation. In recent weeks, Bangladesh has witnessed a sharp uptick in the COVID caseload reporting 1739 new cases and 65 death in the last 24 hours. "There is no room for complacency...the bad situation can return anytime coinciding with the Eid festival later this month," Directorate of Health Services (DGHS) spokesman Dr Nazmul Islam told the media.

Lockdown Extension

A full-fledged lockdown in Bangladesh was imposed on April 5. As cases increased, the restrictions were extended twice till May 5. The restrictions include a shutdown of inter-district buses, trains and ferry services. However, the decree permits public transports to operate within cities maintaining health guidelines after May 5, when the latest round of the lockdown was scheduled to end. Shop and salons would be put under surveillance and any upheaval would require them to immediately close operations.

According to Bangladesh’s Health Minister Zahid Malequ, international borders would remain closed until further order. Last week, the country closed its border with India for two weeks in view of the sharp increase in coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, the country is also expecting half a million doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines by May 10. 

The administration had approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, two days after allowing Russia's Sputnik amidst concern over the availability of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. Directorate General of Drug Administration Major General Mahbubur Rahman told reporters here that the Bangladesh government has issued the “emergency use approval for the Sinopharm vaccine”. The Chinese vaccine would be procured through the government-to-government (G2G) agreement while talks were also underway on manufacturing Sinopharm in Bangladesh itself, he said.

According to officials, Russia proposed to co-produce its ‘Sputnik’ vaccine in Bangladesh but the proposal was yet to be finalised. Three Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies have the vaccine producing capacities while "the Chinese and Russians will come and inspect the plants" ahead of reaching any co-production arrangement.

File/ Image Credits: Associated Press