Traders want to reopen shops amid Covid upsurge
Published: ০৬/০৭/২১

Dokan Bebshayi Kalyan Samity made the demand through an open letter sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday Shop owners and traders have urged the government to allow them to resume business despite the ongoing upsurge of Covid deaths and cases in the country. Dokan Bebshayi Kalyan Samity made the demand through an open letter sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.
As per the letter, if given the opportunity, the owners would reopen the shops across Bangladesh while strictly maintaining the Covid health safety rules Tawfiq Ehesan, convener of Dokan Bebshayi Kalyan Samity, said that shopkeepers, workers across the country are currently in a very dire situation due to the ongoing hard lockdown. He said: “Provided that we are permitted to reopen shops during Eid-ul-Azha, even for a limited time, we will be able to make ends meet.”
Mushtaq Hossain, an adviser to the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), observed that small-level shopkeepers are suffering the most. “The government and local administrations should take measures to help them.” “However, I do not support the reopening of shops. But authorities have to make sure that these people have food in their homes. Public representatives are responsible for this. Their efforts need to be monitored,” the IEDCR adviser added.
Bangladesh on Monday recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll as well as the highest number of single-day cases since the pandemic began, as the government extended the ongoing hard lockdown for another week. The health authorities reported 164 new deaths and 9,964 cases in 24 hours to the morning. With the latest figures, the total number of deaths reached 15,229, while the total number of infections rose to 954,881 in the country.