Sreenagar (Bangladesh):
Tens of thousands of migrant workers fled Bangladesh’s capital Sunday on the eve of a tightened lockdown that will curtail most financial activity and confine men and women to their houses as coronavirus infections soar.
Restrictions on activities and movement have been in location considering the fact that mid-April as instances and deaths jumped.
Infections declined in May but began to rise once more this month, with more than 5,000 new instances and a pandemic-higher of 119 deaths on Sunday, according to the wellness ministry.
The resurgence has prompted the government to toughen restrictions in stages from Monday, with financial activity — such as shops, markets, transportation and offices — to shut down by Thursday.
People will be ordered to remain at houses whilst only emergency services and export-oriented factories continue operations.
The coming closure has sparked an exodus from Dhaka, the capital.
With public inter-city transportation currently suspended considering the fact that June 22, men and women have squeezed into rickshaws, hopped onto motorbikes and even hired ambulances to make their way to their villages.
Ferries have been operating on overdrive, with some operating services 24 hours a day and cramming more than 1,000 passengers onto each and every trip.
“We don’t want them to overcrowd the ferry. But they don’t listen,” stated police sub-inspector Mohammad Reza. “There is a mad rush of people.”
A senior official at the state-run Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation told AFP that at least 50,000 men and women had crossed the river by ferries on Sunday alone.
At a river station in the rural town of Sreenagar about 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Dhaka, thousands queued from early Sunday to cross the Padma, a tributary of the Ganges.
“We did not have any choice but to leave the city,” Fatema Begum, 60, told AFP whilst waiting for a ferry.
“During lockdown, there is no work. And if we don’t work, how do we pay rent? So, we packed up everything and are going back to our village.”
Mohammad Masum, 30, a street vendor in Dhaka, stated it was far better to return home and “spend the time with family” than be confined in the capital.
Bangladesh has reported more than 880,000 infections and just more than 14,000 virus deaths, but professionals say the actual count could be a great deal greater due to feasible underreporting.