The government has decided to impose a week-long lockdown from tomorrow (Monday) as Covid-19 casualties have kept mounting alarmingly in recent days.
During lockdown days, people will not be allowed to go outside home without emergency needs.
Public and private offices, courts, shopping malls will remain shut while passenger trains, vessels and domestic flights will not operate during the period.
Like utility and emergency services, factories and industries will remain open and workers can work on a rota basis complying with health protocols.
Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader shared the latest decision of his government at a press briefing on Saturday.
State minister for public administration Farhad Hossain in a virtual message said the government would execute this lockdown to curb movement of people.
After analysing the outcome, he said, the government will decide whether to extend the shutdown.
The number of daily infections and deaths from the deadly pathogen has suddenly taken a dangerous turn over the past several days.
Saturday saw the third-highest single-day spike of infections and fatalities as some 5,683 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours while 58 people succumbed to the respiratory disease.
With the latest figures, the overall tallies of infections and fatalities rose to 630,277 and 9,213 respectively.
In the last seven days until April 03, a total of 38,471 people tested positive and the figure was up by 66.54 per cent than that of the week before.
In terms of death, 344 people have expired in the last seven days against 201 recorded in the previous seven days starting from March 21 to March 27.
Despite this uptrend in daily caseload and deaths, people were seen giving a nonchalant shrug to the Covid-related health guideline.
Both officials and healthcare professionals cited this public apathy as one of the major reasons behind the resurgence of the pandemic.
Hailing the decision, health experts wanted the government to strictly enforce the lockdown.
Health rights activist Dr Rashid E Mahbub said the situation keeps deteriorating as the country is passing through the second wave of the pandemic.
"I hope the government will successfully enforce the lockdown taking lessons from its previous mistakes. If strict steps are not taken to contain coronavirus, infections and fatalities will rise further." Mr Mahbub suggested that government agencies concerned look after the low-income people during the lockdown.
However, no notification of the government was issued regarding the lockdown until filing this report at 11:00pm on Saturday
Earlier, the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 recommended "partial or modified" lockdown of "high-risk" areas.
According to health directorate, the government has classified Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Chattogram as "high-risk" zones, and Rangamati, Rajshahi, Rajbari and Narsingdi districts as "medium-risk" zones.
On the other hand, 27 districts have been bracketed as "low-risk" zones.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Shafiqul Islam told the media that the police force would get tougher this time to enforce the lockdown.
Nobody will be allowed to violate lockdown and health-safety rules, according to the DMP boss.
MAD DASH FOR HOME
As the news of lockdown spread, people in large numbers thronged railway stations and bus and launch terminals to leave the capital.
Many job-holders and others, who came to Dhaka for different purposes, were seen struggling to depart in fear of getting stranded.
Since the government has already halved passengers by 50 per cent of a vehicle's seating capacity to contain transmission, sources said, decision on lockdown has created a dearth of vehicles.
Jillur Rahman came to Old Dhaka's Islampur area from Haragachha of Rangpur to buy clothes for his shop. He looked pale as he was worried about a return trip.
He sought to return home before Monday to avoid lockdown and came to Kalyanpur to get into a north-bound bus but failed to buy a ticket.
"I contacted some bus counters in Gabtoli and Technical over phone, but they said there was no ticket for buses scheduled for Saturday and Sunday," he told the FE.
Md Awal, manager of Nabil Paribahan at Gabtoli Mazar Road, said most buses have now only 19 tickets each.
He said most of the tickets sold out online much earlier and they also stopped selling tickets of buses scheduled to leave after 6:00 pm on Sunday.
They were still unclear about the lockdown and its exact beginning time or whether it would be applicable to transportation or not.
Sadarghat launch terminal also witnessed a big rush of people. Most launch operators were found violating the government instruction by allowing extra passengers.
Rail authorities also cut ticket sale by half the capacity of a train since March 31.
At Kamalapur Railway Station on Saturday afternoon, the FE found a huge crowd before ticket counters, but computer screens showed 'sold out' of all tickets for different routes.
Bashir Ahmed, an NGO official, was in the queue before the counter number 104.
"I came to get tickets for anytime on Sunday for Chattogram-bound trains but didn't get."
"My family lives in Chattogram. I want to reach them before the lockdown starts," Mr Ahmed said.
However, railway sources said passenger trains would stop operations but mails for carrying food and goods would remain open.
Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association secretary general Md Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said passengers should get at least a week before lockdown.
The government has already approved a hike in fares of buses and launches by 60 per cent, he said.
"Despite this hike, bus or launch authorities haven't succeeded in maintaining the health guideline and this way passengers are witnessing losses doubly."
Mr Chowdhury suggested the government ensure arrangements for people leaving or entering a place before imposing any lockdown.
PANIC BUYING
Meanwhile, kitchen markets, groceries and department stores also witnessed a rush of customers on the day as many dwellers started buying essentials in a large volume following the lockdown.
Sources said such panic buying caused a further price surge of some essentials, heightening sufferings of commoners.
However, apparel makers said they would continue production by strictly maintaining health and safety guideline during lockdown.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in a circular on Saturday advised its member factories to strictly maintain health and safety guidelines in vehicles used for workers to curb second wave of the pandemic.
Earlier, the trade body in a separate circular advised to strictly maintain staggered entry and exit for workers to avoid crowd at factory gates.
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