General holidays likely to be extended further till May 16: State Minister

AdarshaBarta desk :

As coronavirus continues to claim more lives and infect a larger number of people every day, the government has decided to extend the ongoing general holidays again till May 16 in a bid to prevent the transmission of the deadly virus.

“The decision to extend the ongoing general holidays has been taken. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will take initiatives in this regard,” State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told UNB.
Asked about the duration of holiday extension, he said, “Hopefully, the holidays will be extended from May 6 to 16.”

The Public Administration Ministry will issue a gazette notification in this regard on Sunday, he said.
On March 23, the government declared general holidays from March 26 to April 4, aiming to protect people from being infected by the fast spreading virus as elsewhere in the world.

Later, the holidays were extended five times until April 25 -– first from April 5 to April 9, then from April 10 to April 14, later from April 15 to April 16, then again from April 17 to April 25 and finally from April 25 to May 5.

However, a notification issued on April 25 also included directive that all the ministries, divisions and their subordinate offices involved in providing emergency services will remain open on a limited scale during the extended general holidays.
On the same day, the Public Administration Ministry, said government offices at division, district and upazila levels under 18 ministries and divisions will remain open on a limited scale.

Earlier, the government closed all the educational institutions apart from shutting down the rail, road, river and air communications to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Amid high risk of coronavirus transmission, some garment factories reopened on April 26 and factory owners claim they are operating garment factories with the workers available in Dhaka on a limited scale maintaining hygiene issues.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 212 countries and territories around the world.

Bangladesh has so far confirmed 175 deaths and 8,790 coronavirus cases.

Source: UNB