The countrywide shutdown, a precautionary measure the government has taken to keep people at home in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus or COVID-19, crossed the 14th day on Wednesday. The authorities enforced the shutdown initially from March 26 to April 4 by announcing public holidays and banning movement of all types of public transports except for those on emergency duty.
They later extended the shutdown or informal lockdown until April 11 as the coronavirus cases and death toll from the disease are increasing every day passing. The government has also deployed police and army personnel to keep people stay at home, but many of them are not abstaining from going out mainly because of lack of awareness about the deadly disease.
Amid the shutdown, thousands of garment workers came back to Dhaka by ferries, pick-ups and trucks on April 3 and 4 to join work after factory owners announced their plan to resume operations from April 5. The factory owners reversed their decision amid criticism and outcry by all section of the society, but the workers who travelled to and from Dhaka already posed a huge risk of coronavirus spread, experts say.
“To prevent coronavirus spread, the government has shut offices and educational institutions stopped public transports. But the efforts will face a tough challenge as thousands of people have returned to the capital,” Dr Kamrul Afsar Hillol, a medical doctor, told Bangladesh Post.
Some of the returnees might have been infected by the virus after coming into the contact of others and they will be spreading the virus, he said, adding the risk of coronavirus spread has grown. When the countrywide shutdown crossed the 14th day, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) data suggest the coronavirus situation was deteriorating.
According to the institute, the disease has so far infected at least 218 people and claimed 20 lives since the first cases were reported on March 8. Police said 52 areas of capital Dhaka have been put under lockdown – 10 areas on Tuesday alone – after Covid-19 patients were found in the localities. No one is being allowed to enter or leave the areas.
Police first locked down Tolarbag area in Mirpur after a patient had tested positive in one of the first cases of the virus in the country. Later, they locked down around 200 buildings of Khawaza Dewan Lane in Old Dhaka, six areas of Mohammadpur and Adabor, area in front of Mohammadpur Krishi Market, Tajmahal Road Minar Masjid area, Razia Sultana Road, a section of Babar Road, several roads and houses of Bosila and Adabor areas.
Road-5 in Block D of Bashundhara area, a building in Arjot Para in Mohakhali, areas close to Ever Care Hospital in Dhaka, Dhakeshwari teachers quarters of BUET, a part of Dilu Road in Eskaton, a road in Uttara Sector 14, a part of Kazipara in Mirpur, a part of Central Road in Dhanmondi, a part of Swarighat, Road 7 of Mirpur-10, several areas in Paltan, Nayatola, and an area under Dhanmondi Road-6 have also been put under lockdown.
DMP said the areas will be under 24-hour police surveillance and none will be allowed to move in or leave the areas. All kinds of shops there must be kept shut. Meanwhile, Narayanganj district and Gazipur city were placed under complete lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus from Wednesday.
Narayanganj district will be under complete lockdown starting on Wednesday (April 8) until further notice, said in a press release issued by the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday night.
