A week-long nationwide lockdown began in Bangladesh on Monday, imposed to slow the spread of Covid-19, although many in the capital Dhaka defied the shutdown orders.
Groups of small traders staged demonstrations in the centre of the capital on the first day of the lockdown, calling on the government to allow them to keep their businesses open as long as they followed health guidelines.
“We can’t afford to keeping our business shut at this point; we need to survive as well,” said Shibly Kader, the owner of a clothing shop at Dhaka's New Market, and one of several hundred demonstrators.
Given the surge in Covid-19 infections, the government on Saturday decided to impose the nationwide lockdown, while excluding the emergency services.
In a further exception, mills and factories were also allowed to remain open, as long as the operators follow health guidelines and arrange transportation for employees.
Generally, the public was asked to remain indoors during the shutdown.
River, road and railway transports and domestic flights across Bangladesh were suspended on Monday.
However, Dhaka's streets were crowded as people looked for ways to reach to their offices. Many used three-wheeler rickshaws, auto-rickshaws or private vehicles in the absence of public transport.
Many people were seen shopping in stores located in lanes and side streets as major shopping malls were shut.
At a meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed her cabinet colleagues to strictly enforce the lockdown, spokesman Khandaker Anwarul Islam said.
She urged the people to help her government’s efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Islam said.
Bangladesh, which reported its first cases of the coronavirus last March, reported its highest single-day increase in infections on Sunday, with 7,087 cases.
The South Asian country has recorded more than 5,000 cases per day for the last few days, prompting the authorities to impose a ban on air passengers from Europe and 12 other countries on Thursday.
It also shut major tourist destinations.
So far, the country has reported some 644,439 cases and 9,318 deaths.
Bangladesh previously imposed a nationwide shutdown for more than two months, from March 26, 2020 until May 31.
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