Bangladesh troops on streets to enforce lockdown

Banglesh on Thursday deployed its army to enforce a nationwide lockdown, asking people to stay at home to stunt spre of new coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Banglesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina anunced that government will provide free food and cash for poor for next six months.

Hasina also declared an incentive pack for country's export-oriented garment industry to help pay millions of workers.

Banglesh's garment industry is world's second largest after China, and South Asian nation annually earns about $30 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to United States and Europe.

sector has employed about four million workers, mainly women from rural Banglesh.

manufacturing companies said many big orders h alrey been cancelled by western buyers because of impact of dely virus globally.

Streets in capital city were mostly empty on Thursday, shops and shopping malls were closed while only vegetable markets and medicine stores were allowed to operate.

Experts say Banglesh, a nation of 160 million people, is at high risk of spreing COVID-19 as hundreds of thousands of people have returned to country in recent weeks from Italy and or affected countries.

So far Bangleshi authorities have confirmed five deaths and 44 cases of COVID-19.

For most people, new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.