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

Bangladesh has been under a fresh lockdown since July 23 last, barring people from leaving their homes except for essential reasons. Are the things really different in Dhaka, the national capital, from the normal life? Not at all! Dhaka witnessed the higher movement of vehicles on the 11th day of the countrywide ‘stringent lockdown’ with the reopening of garment and other export-oriented factories. Read: Factories reopen amid Covid surge as ‘economy falters’ The reopening of banks after a three-day closure, including the two-day weekly holiday, also contributed to a steep rise in movement of people and private vehicles, reports a UNB correspondent. After a reality-check at different parts of the capital, including Uttara, Mohahali, Mirpur, Kalabagan, Biijoy Srani, Badda, Farmgate, Shyamoli, Karwan Bazar and Bangla Motor, the UNB correspondent saw an increase in the number of private cars and CNG-run auto-rickshaws on roads. During office hours, Dhaka almost returned to its usual chaotic look in these places with long tailbacks at times. The correspondents also observed the presence of public transports on Dhaka streets although their operations were supposed to be suspended from Monday. Rahela Begum, a resident of Moghbazar area, said: ”I see, from my balcony, 15 vehicles passing the main road in front of my building every minute on average like the pre-lockdown days. People are also moving freely without masks. Is this lockdown will be effective enough to bring down infections and deaths?” Read: Lockdown: Thousands returning to Dhaka as factories going to reopen Sunday

BNP on Sunday termed ‘suicidal’ the government’s decision of allowing the export-oriented factories to resume operation amid the ongoing "strict lockdown" enforced to contain the spike in Covid infections and fatalities. “A horrible and messy situation has been prevailing in the country…it declared earlier that the factories would remain shut until August 5. Suddenly, it’s announced that the factories would be reopened without taking any steps to allow the workers to return. They again decided at night that public transport would operate till 12pm,” said party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Read: Factories reopen amid Covid surge as ‘economy falters’ He said, “That’s why I earlier said all these decisions come from Hemayetpur, and this is the reality…I see nothing but insanity in these decisions. The BNP standing committee feels that the government has taken the suicidal decision due to its incompetence and extreme lack of sincerity.” Fakhrul made the remarks at a press conference at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office while unveiling the decisions of a virtual meeting of party standing committee held on Saturday. Referring to media reports, he said it is freighting the way workers in their thousands were crowding and making their desperate bid to return to their workplaces. “They (workers) are returning from rural areas where now the coronavirus transmission is very high. They’re coming back with this (virus). So, we can understand what's going to happen in Dhaka. We think the government should resign shouldering all the responsibilities for its utter failure to deal with the corona situation,” Fakhrul observed. The BNP leader said health experts also opposed the government’s such decision and they described it as a farce since  the residents of Dhaka will be vulnerable to the infection of the deadly Delta variant of coronavirus with the arrival of the workers from outside the capital. Export-oriented industries resumed operation today (Sunday), the 10th day of the ongoing stringent lockdown, amid warnings against Covid surge as workers started returning to their workplaces without maintaining health protocols. Read: Lockdown: Thousands returning to Dhaka as factories going to reopen Sunday A record surge in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown, suspending all outdoor activities unless there is an emergency. Fakhrul alleged that the country’s poor and low-income people are going through serious sufferings due to ‘unplanned' lockdown enforced by the government.He said their party repeatedly cautioned the government that the lockdown would never work without food aid and financial support for low-income and marginalised people, including workers in the informal sector, transport workers, boatmen, and rickshaw and van pullers. “We also urged the government to provide these people with a one-time grant of Tk 15,000. But the government has decided to pay Tk 2,500 to its own party men. The real victims are not getting this support,” the BNP leader said. Deceiving people over vaccine Fakhrul alleged that the government is trying to deceive people by giving them wrong information about the vaccines. “The government has said it’ll make arrangements to provide 60 lakh doses of vaccines every week. But it couldn’t give 60 lakh jabs over the last seven months. They’ve also announced to give one crore doses of vaccines every month without any guarantee of receiving the jabs. This is nothing but a trickery with people.” Read: Govt deceiving people over Covid vaccines: BNP He said the health minister has been making ‘ridiculous and hollow’ remarks about vaccinating the country’s 80 percent of the population without collecting the necessary vaccine doses. “The BNP standing committee meeting has urged the government to immediately present a specific roadmap on vaccine collection, storage, and distribution to people without uttering empty words.” Fakhrul also accused the government of deliberately giving people 'untrue information' about the daily coronavirus cases and fatalities. “They’re misleading people by not giving the real statistics on the number of infections and deaths.”

As owners have started reopening some of their RMG factories amid the growing coronavirus cases, health experts said such a ‘premature’ step may trigger a deadly outbreak of the virus.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s private sector adviser Salman F Rahman on Saturday said the country’s export-oriented factories must be reopened slowly by maintaining necessary health protocol to save the economy.