Risks lurk in reopen move
The government yesterday extended the ongoing shutdown of most of the public and private offices till May 5 in a bid to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
However, factories, including pharmaceuticals and export-oriented manufacturing units, can resume operation by ensuring health safety of workers, according to the circular issued by the public administration ministry yesterday.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Experts say the government decision to reopen factories, mostly garment units, will increase the risk of wider transmission of the virus.
The government might have made the move considering the country's economy, but it should not allow any factory to operate unless proper health safety measures and social distancing are ensured at workplaces, they noted.
Labour leaders dubbed the decision to reopen factories as "one country, two policies" and said it would put workers in a more vulnerable situation.
EXTENSION of shutdown
This is the fourth time the government has extended shutdown after it first announced the closure of all public and private offices on March 23.
As per yesterday's circular, the emergency services related to the supply of power, water, gas and fuel, activities at ports, and telephone, internet and postal services will remain out of the purview of the shutdown.
There is no restriction on movement of doctors, nurses, health workers and media persons. Besides, the shutdown will not be applicable to vehicles carrying perishable items, agricultural products, medicines and health workers.
No educational institution will be allowed to open during the period. Bangladesh Bank will issue directives to keep banks open on a limited scale, it added.
In another circular yesterday, the public administration ministry said 18 ministries or divisions and their agencies will operate on a limitedscale during the shutdown. Those include the Prime Minister's Office, and the ministries of health and family welfare, agriculture, commerce, and food.
FACTORIES ARE IN RISKY AREAS
When the government announced closure of all private and public offices from March 26 to April 4, factories, mostly apparel units, were shut down and most of the workers left their workplaces for home.
Despite the risk of contracting the deadly virus, thousands of garment workers had to return to their workplaces in Dhaka and other districts amid the shutdown early this month because of the absence of specific government instructions and an alleged division among influential owners over the closure of factories.
The garment sector employs some 41 lakh people, and apparel items account for more than 84 percent of the country's export, said BGMEA sources.
Around 80 percent of some 4,500 garment factories are in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi, they said.
And these four districts are affected the most by the novel coronavirus that have already infected more than 4,000 people in 58 districts, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
Of them, 1,736 patients are in Dhaka, 532 in Narayanganj, 292 in Gazipur and 141 in Narsingdi as of 8:00am yesterday, showed the IEDCR website.
In its bulletin around 2:30pm yesterday, the Directorate General of Health Services said the total number of Covid-19 patients stood at 4,186.
WHAT HEALTH EXPERTS SAY
Prof Muzaherul Huq, former adviser (Southeast Asia Region) of the World Health Organisation, said, "This decision [to reopen factories] is not right. It will put the people at a serious risk.
"This is a total violation of lockdown principle which means people stay at home and maintain social distancing… this would increase the rate of infections…"
The WHO has a guideline for withdrawal of lockdown but the situation in Bangladesh has not yet reached the point where it can call off the shutdown, he told The Daily Star.
The expert said the government might have made the decision considering the economic aspects, but it should not allow factory owners to resume operation before formulation of a safety guideline for workers.
Besides, there should be an independent body comprising representatives of the government, the International Labour Organisation and other stakeholders to monitor and ensure health safety of workers at factories, he pointed out.
Apart from this, all workers must be brought under insurance coverage or be given incentive, added Muzaherul.
Prof Nazrul Islam, noted virologist and former vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said the government decision would pose a risk of further spread of the virus.
The authorities must ensure social distancing of workers inside and outside the factories. "If social distancing can't be maintained, it would not only pose risk to the workers, but also to others," he told this newspaper.
Mentioning that Gazipur has turned into a Covid-19 hotspot, Prof Nazrul, also a member of the national technical advisory committee to tackle Covid-19, said "I am concerned about how safety of workers would be ensured."
WHAT LABOUR LEADERS SAY
Taslima Akhter, president of Bangladesh Garments Sramik Sanghati, said the government decision to reopen factories during the shutdown is tantamount to "one country, two policies".
"This is not acceptable ... why will garment workers become scapegoats when all others will stay at home during the shutdown?"
She questioned who would ensure health safety of the workers and who would monitor the factories.
"We have information that workers in 12 districts have already been infected with Covid-19 and five of them died.
"If factories reopen, the virus may spread fast as we know that the factory owners, except for a few, bother the least about safety of their workers."
The garment workers live in densely populated areas in Narayanganj, Savar and Gazipur, and if any of them gets infected with the virus, it will pose a serious risk to others.
"We have already demanded that the garment factories, like other offices, should remain shut until the situation comes under control.
"We also demand that the factory owners allow workers to remain on leave with full wages until the situation improves," Taslima added.
Another labour leader, Kazi Md Ruhul Amin, executive president of Garments Sramik Trade Union Kendra, said the economy or the industry cannot be more important than people's lives.
WHAT BGMEA AND GOVT SAY
Arshad Jamal Dipu, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said they would decide on reopening factories after a coordination meeting on April 26.
Representatives of the BGMEA, the ministries of labour and employment, and commerce and other stakeholders would attend the meeting. A date for reopening factories is likely to be fixed there, he told The Daily Star last night.
Dipu further said the garment factories would be reopened in phases.
The BGMEA has already prepared a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on how to run factories in this time of crisis and will submit it to the government for approval.
The SOP would cover everything related to workers' safety, he added.
The BGMEA leader mentioned that they would form 15 teams in different industrial belts to monitor whether factories are properly following the safety procedures.
Rezaul Haque, additional secretary of the labour and employment ministry, told this newspaper that following the issuance of the circular, they told the BGMEA and other stakeholders that factories can be reopened once they ensure health safety of workers.
"If any factory cannot ensure workers' safety, it won't be allowed to reopen," he said.
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