Staff Correspondent: Dhaka, Jul-28,
People continue to venture out with families and
friends in the capital defying the lockdown rules even though Bangladesh
recorded the highest daily rise in its Covid-19 death toll on Tuesday.
There was nothing unique on day six (Wednesday) of
the ongoing strict lockdown as people were seen in the capital moving without
emergency reasons with private cars and rickshaws plying everywhere.
Dhaka wore almost a normal look with an increased
number of vehicles and people on the streets. Only the movement of public
transport remained suspended as per the government restrictions.
With the spike in Covid cases, hospitals in cities
and districts are getting overwhelmed with Covid patients but the lockdown
restrictions are largely ignored.
Visiting different areas, the Citizen Times
correspondent saw the increased movement of people in different areas of the
city including Kakrail, Malibagh, Shegunbagicha, Dhamondi, Mohammadpur,
Shahbagh, Kataban and Farmgate.
Even people were seen gossiping on roads and moving
from one place to another without wearing masks.
Talking to the correspondent, traffic inspector of
Mohakhali area Asaduzzamn said the pressure of vehicles increased today
compared to the last few days.
“In some areas, traffic control is needed due to a
rise in the number of vehicles,” he said.
When police stop vehicles at check-posts, passengers
show various causes for coming out of home, including banking work,
hospitalization of patients and vaccination, he said.
“We’re filing cases and realising fines from those
who cannot show a valid reason for going outdoors but people are coming out
despite all this,” he added.
Akhter Ahmed, a traffic sergeant of Uttara, said the
number of vehicles is increasing every day.
As the country battles a brutal wave of the pandemic,
Bangladesh logged record-high 258 Coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours till
Tuesday morning, shattering the record of 247 single-day deaths a day
before.
The country has been seeing nearly 200 deaths every
day for the past two weeks and breaking records of daily cases and deaths
almost every other day.
Besides, 14,925 more people came out as Covid
positive after the test of 52,478 samples, according to a handout issued by the
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country saw the highest-ever 15,192 Covid cases
on Monday.
With the new numbers, the death tally from Covid-19
reached 19,779 today while the caseload mounted to 1,194,752.
End/Dct/Abh/mos/
