Coronavirus: 98 workers held, sent to home quarantine

Police have held 98 workers of RMG factories in Dhaka, Comilla, and Chittagong Export Processing Zones (EPZ) who fled in fear of coronavirus infection.

The workers were detained while entering Khagrachhari in ten microbuses early Friday, reports UNB.

Khagrachhari police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Rashid said they handed over 98 workers to the hospital authorities at Bangabandhu Square area.

Residential Medical Officer of Sadar Hospital Dr Purna Jibon Chakma said the workers were directed to stay in home quarantine.

Detained workers said they fled from their workstations in fear of getting infected with coronavirus.

The workers were working at EPZs amid the national lockdown while Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) recommended closure of all factories as the general holiday was extended.

Bangladesh, the second largest exporter of readymade goods after China, earns majority of its foreign currencies from this sector which employs more than four million people, mostly women. 

Since March 8, when the first three Covid-19 cases were reported in the country, 424 people have been detected with the deadly disease, 27 of whom died, while 33 recovered.