The government has ordered to suspend public transport across the country from Thursday (Mar 26) to Apr 4 to control the spread of coronavirus or Covid-19.
Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader gave the suspension order in a video message from his office in the morning, said a statement on Tuesday (Mar 24).
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.
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.