Export-oriented industries resumed operation on Sunday, the 10th day of the ongoing stringent lockdown, amid warnings against Covid surge as workers started returning to their workplaces without maintaining health protocols. The workers in their thousands have been on their way back to their workplaces in Narayanganj, Gazipur and Mymensingh in Dhaka division since Friday after the government’s announcement of reopening factories. Read:Vessels to move till 12 pm Sunday to carry factory workers The workers took their arduous journeys to get back to their workplaces as public transport remained suspended due to the lockdown. They walked miles for miles or moved on in hired auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, goods-laden vehicles in their desperate bid to join work. Later, the government on Saturday night allowed public transport to operate until 12 pm on Sunday to facilitate the return of workers.   Buses started plying roads from early Sunday and people were seen entering the capital through Gabtoli, Abdullahpur, Mohakhali, Sayedabad, Postagola and Babubazar point by bus or on foot. The Covid-19 crisis has hit the country’s economy hard and jeopardized its impressive achievements in poverty reduction, according to economists.

The Covid-19 death toll reached 100 in Thakurgaon on Tuesday, with five more people succumbing to the fatal virus in the past 24 hours. Besides, the district saw 114 fresh cases during this period, with a positivity rate of 42.87 %. The new cases were detected after testing 266 samples, officials said. Read:Thakurgaon records 132 fresh Covid cases, 7 deaths Thakurgaon Sadar saw the maximum transmission, with 64 out of the 114 new cases being from this area, civil surgeon Dr Md Mahfuzur Rahman told UNB. The total Covid-19 cases reached 3,979 with the new cases, he said. Of them, 2474 have already recovered. Read:Over 100 contract Covid in Thakurgaon, two more die On the other hand, the district administration has been working hard to make the nationwide stringent lockdown a success in Thakurgaon. Md Mahbubur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of the district, said, "As some people are reluctant to follow the restrictions, mobile courts conducted across Thakurgaon have collected a fine of Tk 27,500 from 36 violators."

The residents of Dhaka woke up to deserted roads as Bangladesh entered a stringent lockdown on Thursday with patrol teams out there to convince people to stay off the streets. The complete lockdown, which came into effect on Thursday morning to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus, will continue till July 7 midnight. Army personnel started patrolling the city streets in aid of the civil administration as the government scrambles to bring the Covid-19 situation under control.    Police have set up barricades and check-posts at all important points of the city to monitor the movement of vehicles as well as people. So, most roads in the capital were found almost empty with fewer private vehicles moving. Read: Appellate Division proceedings to continue virtually during lockdown; regular judicial work to be curtailed However, slow-moving rickshaws were seen moving everywhere in the city. Kitchen markets in the city remained open as the government allowed those to operate from 8 am to 5 pm. Abu Saleh Mohammad Raihan, joint commissioner (Traffic North) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, “Roughly 25 per cent vehicles are plying the city roads compared to the last day as some offices related to emergency services will remain open during the lockdown. However, the police allowed only those vehicles which had valid reasons to move. Army personnel are also there patrolling the city streets.” No CNG-run auto-rickshaw other than rickshaws were seen on the roads since morning, he said. Traffic inspector Ziauddin (Demra) said, “Some motorised vehicles are moving there but those were allowed only after checking.” Asaduzzaman, another traffic inspector (Mohakhali), said: “The number of vehicles is negligible and most of those running with valid reasons.” However, the public transport remained off the road as per the government directives. Read:Stringent lockdown: Biman's domestic flights suspended till July 7

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has suspended all domestic flights for seven days, from July 1 to 7, as the country enters "strict lockdown" early Thursday to tackle the rising tide of Covid-19 cases and fatalities. However, the national flag carrier will operate a limited number of flights – from Dhaka to Chattogram, Sylhet and Cox's Bazar – for providing transit to international passengers.  Also read: Govt outlines restriction rules ahead of ‘tough’ lockdown Passengers of the suspended flights can travel later with the same tickets, subject to vacancies, without paying extra charges, Biman Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) Tahera Khondoker said Wednesday. Bangladesh's Covid-19 situation is getting from bad to worse. It reported a record-high number of daily Covid-19 infections after confirming its first cases on March 8 last year in the past 24 hours till Wednesday morning. Also read: Violation of lockdown rules to invite legal action, warns DMP The country, battling to get a second coronavirus wave under control, also reported more than 100 deaths for a fourth straight day. The new 8,822 cases have pushed the country's caseload to 9,13,258, and 115 fatalities brought its toll to 14,503.