Dhaka: Bangladesh has extended a nationwide shutdown of offices and workplaces to May 16 as a novel coronavirus outbreak runs rampant across the country.

The public administration ministry announced the move on Monday.

Bangladesh reported its first cases of the coronavirus on Mar 8. Since then, the virus has sickened more than 10,000 and killed 182 others.

The government enforced a nationwide shutdown of offices, schools and public transport, which it termed a 'holiday', on Mar 26 and has since prolonged it in phases, most recently until May 5.

The latest shutdown period will encompass the public holiday for Buddha Purnima on May 6 along with the weekend of May 8 and 9 followed by another on May 14 and 15.

The tally of coronavirus infections in Bangladesh has risen to 10,143 after 688 cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8am Monday.

This is the biggest single-day spike in infections since the first cases of the virus were reported on Mar 8.

Five more people, all men, died from the virus in the same period, bringing the body count to 182, said DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana on Monday.

The recovery count also jumped to 1,209 after 147 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.

A total of 6,260 samples were tested during that time at 33 authorised laboratories across the country, according to the health directorate.

Another 90 suspected COVID-19 patients were taken into isolation, raising the total to 1,636, said Nasima.

Globally, over 3.51 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 247,630 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.    

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/05/04/bangladesh-covid-19-cases-top-10000-after-biggest-single-day-spike