Bangladesh will go into a two-week strict nationwide lockdown starting today as the Eid relaxation ended on Thursday and the positivity rate of 32 percent in the country touched a new high. 

This lockdown will be stricter than the one imposed before Eid, Farhad Hossain, the State Minister for Public Administration, was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune. Experts had earlier warned against easing restrictions when the cases were already too high.  

The restrictions will remain in place till August 5, unless extended again.

Police, the para-military Bangladesh Border Guard, and the Army will be deployed to enforce restrictions.

Offices, courts, garment factories, and all other export-oriented industries, everything to be precise, will also be closed during the period. 

The government had also ignored the requests from the garment industry, seeking exemptions from the lockdown.  

Bangladesh has been struggling to bring down the cases for almost four months now. The spread of the Delta variant, which was responsible for the deadly surge of cases in India, has exacerbated the situation n Bangladesh. 

(SAM)