The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on coronavirus thinks the government has relaxed the latest countrywide restrictions, enforced to stem the spread of pandemic, too early.
Fearing further deterioration in the coronavirus situation, the advisory panel urged the government to review its decision and recommended imposing the lockdown for a couple of weeks more.
The members of the special body made the call after they analysed the overall Covid-19 situation and recent steps taken by the government, said a press release issued on Saturday.
They also suggested shutting community centres and tourist spots for few more days while hotels and restaurants not to allow dining in and public transports to operate at half capacity.
The advisory body made the recommendations at a meeting held on Thursday
with the committee's chairman Dr Mohammad Shahidullah in the chair, said the release.
Although the lockdown remained in force from July 23 to August 10,it had not been strictly followed. The infection rate dropped owing to the closure of several important venues where people in large numbers normally gather, it observed.
"But neither daily fatalities nor infection rates are coming down at satisfactory level. So, the panel is concerned by the decision of the authorities to relax the restrictions too early," the statement said.
The meeting noted that the decision taken too early might increase the risk of re-infection, putting the country's economy at greater risk.
Under such circumstances, the advisory panel called upon the policymakers to reassess the decision and recommended imposing another lockdown for one or two more weeks.
However, the rate of infection dropped to 20.66 per cent on the day while single-day coronavirus-induced deaths dropped below 200 for the second straight day.
The country recorded 6,885 more confirmed cases along with 178 deaths in the last 24 hours ending at 8:00am on Saturday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The state-run agency said the latest number of infections came from medical screening of a total of 33,330 samples at 709 labs across the country.
In fact, the positivity rate came down to 20.66 per cent after 46 days as the previous lowest positivity rate of 20.4 per cent was recorded on June 28 last.
With latest figures, the entire tally of the viral infections and fatalities rose to 1,412,218 and 23,988 respectively as of August 14, 2021.
At the same time, the DGHS data also showed that 7,805 patients recovered, taking the entire tally of recovery to 1,281,327.
