The government has extended the current lockdown till August 10 amid a surge in the Delta variant of Covid-19 across the country.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque disclosed the decision of the government while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on Tuesday.

Read: Lockdown in Dhaka: Surging infections, soaring chaos

He said shops, factories and offices will be reopened from August 11 while public transport will be allowed to ply roads by rotation on a limited scale once the lockdown is over. 

Health Minister Zahid Maleque, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam were present at the virtual meeting along with other ministers and state ministers.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said: “Today’s decision is a provisional one as we’ll take another decision considering the situation.”

The government is set to launch a mass vaccination drive at the village level from 14,000 vaccine centres from August 7 as one crore people will be vaccinated in the next one week, he said.

The minister said the vaccine campaign will be launched simultaneously with a focus on senior people as they face a greater risk of fatalities.

He urged workers and helpers of bus drivers to get their Covid jabs as no one will be allowed to join work without vaccinations. “Once vaccinated, the certificates will be available on the website,” he said.

Regarding cross-checking, he said it will be possible to check whether one took the jab or not, and it can be scrutinised on 7-9 August.

Read:Lockdown: Thousands returning to Dhaka as factories going to reopen Sunday

The government has made vaccination mandatory for people’s movement from August 11 and a decision has been taken to provide punitive action against those who will fail to get Covid shots in time, Mozammel said.

If anyone is found moving without vaccination, then it will be considered as an offence, and the government can take action after issuing an ordinance, Mozammel added.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has taken preparations to bring one crore people under the vaccination programme in seven days and if anyone above 18 found roaming without taking jab then he/she may face a penalty.

Bangladesh has been under a lockdown since July 23 last, barring people from leaving their homes except for essential reasons and it is set to expire on August 5.

On July 30, the government allowed industry owners to reopen all export-oriented factories from 1 August amid the nationwide lockdown.

Covid situation in Bangladesh

The scale of Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh looks to be overwhelming as the country added 246 fatalities to its national tally on Monday, reporting over 200 single-day fatalities for the last nine days.

The rapid rise in cases and fatalities, driven by the Delta variant, shows the worst days of the pandemic are far from over here since the pace of hospitalization across the country remains relentless.

The Covid-19 infections are at their peak now, with 14,241 new cases reported on average each day.

Bangladesh recorded 15,989 new cases on Monday after testing 53,462 samples, up from 13,862 logged on July 30.

Read: Covid in Bangladesh: Seniors far more likely to face the worst

There have been 1,280,317 infections and 21,262 coronavirus-related deaths here since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 13,459,811 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 4% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses