Bangladesh might extend shutdown of offices

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday signalled that the shutdown of offices and workplaces due to the coronavirus pandemic may be extended to April 9.

Dhaka, March 31 Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday signalled that the shutdown of offices and workplaces due to the coronavirus pandemic may be extended to April 9.

Hasina made the remark while handing out instructions on the prevention of the novel coronavirus outbreak to field-level officers across Bangladesh via video-conference from her official residence here, reports bdnews24.

"We had declared a 10-day holiday. But it might be extended by a few more days," Hasina said.

Bangladesh announced the closure of all government and private offices and courts from March 26 to April 4 amid mounting fears.

However, the government said the shutdown would not affect emergency services such as hospitals and the fire service.

Public transport would also operate on a limited scale during the holidays, it added.

On Monday, the government's disease control agency has confirmed one more case of the coronavirus infection, taking the total number of infections to 49, bdnews24 reported.

The overall death toll stood at five, the agency added.

( With inputs from IANS )