About 17 lakh active mobile SIM users have left Dhaka city amid the third wave of deadly coronavirus infection ahead of Eid-ul-Adha.
Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar disclosed the information in a facebook status on Sunday (July 18) night.
He said, some 16 lakh 93 thousand 687 active SIM users have left the capital on July 15 and 16.
Out of them, 7 lakh 74 thousand 784 are Grameen Phone users while 4 lakh 64 thousand 492 Banglalink, 3 lakh 42 thousand 82 Robi and 1 lakh 12 thousand 229 use Teletalk operator.
The death toll in novel coronavirus has been continuing rising. On Sunday, 225 deaths were reported in last 24 hours taking the tally to 17 thousand 894. A total of 11 lakh 3 thousand 989 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 contamination.
Government relaxed the lockdown, which was enforced from July 1, aiming to coordinate between life and livelihood of people ahead of the Eid festival.
A gazette notification was issued easing the shutdown till 6am July 23. Toughest restrictions will be in place since the day and will continue till August 5 midnight, the gazette read.
However, cancelation of safety guidelines prompted Eid holidaymakers to travel to home. Despite, a new spike in both Covid-19 deaths and contaminations travellers are hardly abiding by protection rules like social distancing, using masks or washing hands.
Eid travelling created long traffic congestion at Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge highway while mad rush of homebound people has been prevailing at Shimuia launch terminal creating a fear of mounting the coronavirus caseloads once again.
