7 garment workers test positive
Seven garment workers in Savar tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, according to sources at Savar Upazila Health Complex.
The local administration did not disclose whether the workers, aged between 28 and 36, came from outside Savar to join work.
The sources at the health complex said 51 samples were sent to a lab on Thursday for Covid-19 testing. Eight of them tested positive for novel coronavirus.
Dr Shayemul Huda, Savar upazila health and family planning officer, said most of the seven garment workers were from Savar's Ulail area.
He said the area was put on lockdown and the workers were sent to a hospital in Dhaka.
Parvejur Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer of Savar, said houses of the workers were put on lockdown.
Earlier on Wednesday, the upazila health and family planning officer requested the Savar UNO to shut all garment factories in Savar and Ashulia.
Seeking anonymity, some garment workers told The Daily Star that their factory in Ulail area was still open.
They said they were panicked at the news of some garment workers getting infected with coronavirus.
Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 workers of a garment factory in Taargaachh area of Gazipur staged demonstrations yesterday after a rumour spread that they were sacked.
The factory was reopened on April 24 after it remained shut since April 11. Some 1,500 out of the total of about 3,000 joined work on the day of reopening.
As about 1,000 more workers went to join work yesterday, the factory management did not allow them to do so.
The agitating workers started demonstrating in front of the factory around 9:00am and blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway around 10:00am.
Sushanta Sarker, additional superintendent of Gazipur industrial police, said the management reopened the factory on a limited scale to maintain social distancing. Therefore, all the workers were not allowed to join work.
Those who could not join work would receive 60 percent of their gross wages for April, he said.
Informed about this, the agitating workers withdrew the blockade around 11:00am, said police.
WORKERS ASKED TO CARRY ID CARDS
The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) yesterday asked factory workers to carry their factory identity cards if they needed to come to their workplaces in and around the capital.
Shibnath Roy, inspector general of DIFE, in a circular said the workers would have to show their identity cards to the authorities, if needed, on way to Dhaka.
Otherwise, they would not be allowed to enter Dhaka and its nearby areas, according to the circular.
It said the factory managements have been discouraging the workers from coming to Dhaka until further notice.
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