The government has ordered to suspend bus, train, launch services across the country in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus or Covid-19.
Separate orders were issued by the respective authorities on the matter on Tuesday (Mar 24).
Bus services suspended
All bus services across the country will remain suspended from Thursday (Mar 26) to Apr 4 to control the spread of coronavirus.
Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader gave the suspension order in a video message from his office on Tuesday the morning, said a statement.
It said trucks, covered vans, vehicles carrying medicines, fuel, and perishable goods and emergency services will remain out of the purview of the suspension.
No good-laden vehicles can carry passengers during this time, the statement added.
Train services suspended
Bangladesh Railway Authority suspended all local, commuter, and mail train services across the country.
The services were suspended from Monday (Mar 23) midnight and will remain suspended till further notice, Railway's Director-General Mia Jahan said on Tuesday morning.
He said, “Only inter-district and freight trains are functioning right now. Since the tickets of inter-district trains were already sold to passengers, we have not suspended it yet.
“We will make a decision regarding the suspension of inter-district trains in a meeting today [Tuesday]. Even if we choose to suspend it, then it will be applicable from Mar 26,” he added.
Currently, 257 local, commuter, and mail train trains are functioning across Bangladesh.
Launch services suspended
The Shipping Ministry has ordered the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to suspend the launch services on all routes across the country until further notice.
"No passenger-carrying launch will be operated from today (Tuesday)," BIWTA Joint Secretary Arif Hasnat told Bangla Tribune.
Vessels carrying goods, however, will remain out of the purview of the suspension.
Covid-19, a new strain of coronavirus, which was first reported in China’s Wuhan has killed at least 16,558 people across the world and infected 381,649 till date.
At least 102,429 people have recovered from the virus which has spread to 195 countries.
As of Monday, Bangladesh confirmed three coronavirus deaths since the outbreak of the deadly pandemic in the country. The number of total infected now stands at 33.
On the same day, Bangladesh government declared a 10-day shutdown, effective from Mar 26 to Apr 4, to battle the spread of the coronavirus.
Both the private and public sectors, except emergency services, would come to a temporary halt.
Educational institutions will stay closed during this period but banks will remain open to facilitate the financial transaction for their clients.
On the other hand, Bangladesh’s armed forces will start assisting the administration in every divisional and district town from Tuesday, to ensure that people maintain social distance and are taking precautionary measures to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading further.

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