The government has decided to extend the ongoing general holidays with additional directives till May 5 in a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus across the country.

Confirming the extension of the ongoing holidays, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told media that ‘a circular will be issued in this regard’.

On March 23, the government first declared general holidays from March 26 to April 4, aiming to prevent transmission of coronavirus.

Later, the holidays were extended three times until April 25 — first from April 5 to April 9, then from April 10 to April 14, later from April 15 to April 25.

However, kitchen markets, food shops, pharmacies, hospitals and all emergency services remain out of the purview of the general holidays.

Earlier, the government closed all the educational institutions apart from shutting down rail, road, river and air communications to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Meanwhile, certain branches of banks are open amid the pandemic situation.

All the government officials at divisional, district and upazila levels have been asked to attend their offices as per the directives of the Cabinet Division for providing necessary help to fight coronavirus.

The death toll from the deadly virus has reached 120 in the country while the number of total infected persons stands at 3,772 as of on Wednesday.