UNB, Dhaka: Shops and shopping malls will be allowed to remain open from 10am to 9pm instead of earlier-announced 5pm amid the lockdown enforced by the government to contain the transmission of Covid-19.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Md Shariful Islam confirmed the matter.
Earlier on April 23, Cabinet Division issued a notice permitting shops and malls to reopen from April 25 maintaining proper safety protocols.
The second phase of lockdown started on April 22 and is supposed to continue until April 28.
Earlier on April 5, public transports, shops and shopping malls were directed to remain shut in capital Dhaka as the country started a 7-day lockdown.
Talking to UNB, local and international health experts, however, predicted Bangladesh is unlikely to see any improvement in the Covid-19 situation before June next as the country is still in the grip of its second wave.
Using a mathematical model, Bangladesh Como Modelling Group, a group of experts from both Bangladesh and Oxford University, also projected that the country will witness the similar infection rate intermittently till the end of May while the situation may improve in June.
Meanwhile, after a slight fall for several days, Bangladesh’s daily coronavirus death toll crossed the 100-mark again on Sunday with a sharp fall in new cases.
Fatalities climbed to 11,053 with 101 deaths in the past 24 hours until the morning. The virus also infected 2,922 people, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 745,322 coronavirus cases.
