Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery|Coronavirus pandemic

Bangladeshi workers rush for home before sweeping COVID lockdown

Lockdown announcement sparks huge exodus of migrant workers from capital Dhaka to home villages.

People board a ferry as authorities order a new lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus in Munshiganj. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Published On 29 Jun 202129 Jun 2021
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

Thousands of people are stranded in Bangladesh capital after the authorities halted almost all public transport before a sweeping weeklong lockdown, imposed to combat a deadly resurgence of COVID-19 infections, begins on Thursday.

The country has reported pandemic highs of more than 8,300 fresh infections on Monday and 119 deaths on Sunday.

It has a total caseload of nearly 900,000 and just more than 14,000 COVID-19 deaths. But experts say the actual numbers could be much higher due to possible underreporting.

Officials blame the recent spike on the highly contagious Delta variant first identified in neighbouring India.

The majority of the South Asian nation’s 168 million population will be confined to their homes by Thursday as part of the restrictions, with only essential services and some export-facing factories allowed to operate.

The government’s cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said troops would be deployed from Thursday to help enforce the lockdown.

“The armed forces will be on patrol. If anyone ignores their orders, legal action will be available to them,” he told reporters late on Monday.

The lockdown announcement sparked an exodus of migrant workers from Dhaka to home villages on Sunday, with tens of thousands cramming into ferries to cross a big river.

The staggered implementation of the lockdown rules left thousands of workers in Dhaka forced to walk to their offices on Monday, sometimes for hours, in the sweltering summer heat.

Bicycle rickshaws were allowed to operate in a last-minute government concession on Sunday, but prices soared to unaffordable levels, commuters said.

Restrictions on activities and movement were imposed across Bangladesh in mid-April as cases and deaths jumped to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic.

Infections declined in May but started to rise again this month, sparking harsher restrictions in the South Asian nation.

Health officials across the world have been alarmed by the rapid spread of the Delta variant, now reported by the WHO to have reached at least 85 countries.

More than two-thirds of new COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh’s capital were of the Delta variant, a recent study by the independent Dhaka-based International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research reported.

People crowd to board a ferry in Munshiganj. The majority of the South Asian nation's 168 million population will be confined to their homes by Thursday as part of the restrictions. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Advertisement
People walk with their belongings before boarding a ferry in Munshiganj. More than two-thirds of new virus cases in Bangladesh's capital were of the Delta variant first identified in neighbouring India. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
The lockdown announcement sparked an exodus of migrant workers from the capital Dhaka. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Only essential services and some export-facing factories will be allowed to operate during the lockdown. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
People board a ferry in Munshiganj. Restrictions on activities and movement were imposed across Bangladesh in mid-April as cases and deaths jumped to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Migrants seek transportation as they leave for their native places after Bangladesh's authorities ordered a new lockdown. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Advertisement
Migrants and other people leave for their native places. The country has reported nearly 900,000 infections and more than 14,000 deaths, but experts say the actual toll could be much higher due to possible underreporting. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Bicycle rickshaws were allowed to operate in a last-minute government concession late on Sunday, but prices soared to unaffordable levels, commuters said. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network