The government is likely to extend the ongoing general holidays again till May 16 with a view to containing the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Farhad Hossain, State Minister for the Public Administration Department, confirmed the matter to The Business Post.
He said the proposal to extend the general holidays has already been submitted to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Initiatives will be taken in this regard and a gazette notification will be published by tomorrow or Sunday, after the PM approves the extension, Farhad Hossain added.
On March 23, the government declared general holidays from March 26 to April 4, aiming to protect people from being infected by the fast spreading virus as elsewhere in the world.
Later, the holidays were extended five times until April 25 -– first from April 5 to April 9, then from April 10 to April 14, later from April 15 to April 16, then again from April 17 to April 25 and finally from April 25 to May 5.
However, a notification issued on April 25 also included directive that all the ministries, divisions and their subordinate offices involved in providing emergency services will remain open on a limited scale during the extended general holidays.
/teb/nm
