Wari to go into lockdown

After East Rajabazar, the Directorate General of Health Services has marked some areas in Dhaka’s Wari as coronavirus hotspots.

It has moved to implement lockdown measures on an experimental basis in these areas in line with the recommendations of the national technical advisory committee to tackle the outbreak.

A 13-member team, headed by Director General Abul Kalam Azad, is working on the zoning of the areas affected by the virus, Additional Director General of Health Services Nasima Sultana said at a media briefing on Saturday.   

Nasima noted that no area was declared a permanent red zone or virus-free zone.

The government ended the shutdown of offices and the public transportation system on May 31 after over two months amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

It has decided to categorise the areas red, green and yellow based on the rate of coronavirus infections and deaths from the disease.

The government has imposed so-called general holiday restrictions over coronavirus in 45 areas marking them as red zones in three phases.

The local authorities are able to put strict curbs on normal life in the areas. Offices and factories also remain closed, while traffic and public movement is restricted.

East Rajabazar in Dhaka was the first area to go into total lockdown experimentally for 21 days on June 10 after the nationwide shutdown ended.