Government figures showed coronavirus affecting 44 districts out of 64. Dhaka, the capital city, recorded the maximum number of cases, 608, followed by Narayanganj with 255 confirmed cases.
Lockdowns or heavily restricting movements can play a significant role in slowing down the progress of the virus’ transmission as evident from China.
“People must stay at home ... No one must go out of home without extremely emergency needs,” the circular says.
“The movement of people from one area to another is hereby strictly controlled,” the DGHS said. “No one will be allowed to go out of home between 6pm and 6am.”
It warned of ‘stern actions’ against the violators of the order.
Bangladesh on Thursday reported 10 fatalities in the span of 24 hours, the highest since the first death was reported on March 18. So far, 60 people have died of coronavirus in the country.
"We’ve collected the highest number of samples in the past 24 hours...a total of 341 people have tested positive, taking the number of confirmed cases to 1,572," DGHS Additional Director Dr Nasima Sultana told a regular briefing.
Bangladesh announced its first coronavirus cases on March 8. The number of cases rose as tests were scaled up. So far, only 17,003 tests have been carried out – 2,135 of them in the last 24 hours, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.
Health experts say the number of confirmed cases will spike once more tests are done. There are many more asymptomatic patients and with community transmission taking place, the number of infected people will only go up.
Also read: Coronavirus: Bangladesh confirms 10 deaths in its deadliest 24-hr record
Once the first case was confirmed, the government moved swiftly, announcing a general holiday starting March 26 and later extending it to April 25, shutting down transports and all non-essential services, putting millions out of job.
But a steady rise in officially confirmed cases and the latest restrictions suggest that the ‘holidays’ will likely be extended well into May that will coincide with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government won applauds for sweeping moves to control transmission of the virus that saw the cancellation of national events and all-out government efforts to keep people indoors.
The government has unveiled a number of stimulus packages to tackle the possible effect of the outbreak and announced giving ration cards to five million people – 10 million in total.