A group of eminent people urged the government to immediately impose an effective nationwide lockdown except emergency services to tackle coronavirus pandemic.
The group of 343 citizens, including university teachers, students, layers, journalists and activists, in a statement on Wednesday came up with the demand along with some other demands to save the countrymen from the COVID-19.
Prof Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, Prof Gitiara Nasreen and Tanzimuddin Khan of Dhaka University, Nusrat S Chowdhury, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Amherst College, Massachusetts, USA, among other signed the statement.
They made the demand citing the intensified casualties and infection in COVID-19 saying that experts fear of large-scale fatalities if an effective lockdown is not imposed and proper strategy is not taken in this regard.
Besides, they also called upon the government to shut public transport including inter-district public transportations. They also criticised the recent 60 per cent fare hike in public transport.
They also put emphasis on increasing the sample testing across the country apart from increasing the healthcare facility for people, and to take necessary steps to install labs and facilities to in public universities.
Besides, they also called upon the government to give approval to the rapid testing kits invented by a Bangladeshi scientist at the Gonoshasthaya Kendra and make public the trail result of the kit.
On Wednesday Bangladesh registered at least 37 dead and 2,695 positive cases raising the total death toll to 746 and infection to 55,140.
