Businesses based in Dhaka’s New Market area had to close down for most of yesterday due to a clash between students and traders, leaving them to face huge losses just one-and-a-half weeks ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest sales season in Bangladesh.
Lockdown now in reverse gear
Shops, malls open tomorrow; transport owners want to resume bus service after April 28 if govt permits
Shoppers throng an open-air fruit market in the capital’s Purana Paltan opposite Baitul Mukarram after Juma prayers yesterday. Even amid restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19, the tightly packed crowd of people show very little awareness of social distancing. Photo:
Firoz Ahmed
When the country has just begun to see a decline in Covid-19 infections and deaths, the government decision to reopen shops and malls can jeopardise all its efforts to fight the virus and worsen the situation, experts warn.