Dhaka (AFP)

Soldiers and police were patrolling the deserted streets of Bangladesh on Thursday, the first day of the entry into force of a strict one-week lockdown intended to contain the progression of the Covid-19.

The government of this country of 168 million people is worried about a "worrying and dangerous" increase in the number of cases, attributed to the highly contagious Delta variant.

Hospitals are overwhelmed, especially in the border regions of India where this variant has been identified for the first time.

On the first day of this seven-day lockdown, the usually bustling streets of Dhaka were deserted as the military patrolled and set up checkpoints.

Residents are prohibited from leaving their homes except for compelling reasons or to buy food.

Dhaka's police chief said anyone violating these measures would be fined and could be arrested.

"If we have to initiate 5,000 prosecutions a day and proceed to arrests, we will," warned Shafiqul Islam.

The lockdown announcement last week sparked a mass exodus of migrant workers, who left Dhaka to return to their home provinces.

"We hope that these strict measures will be effective. We must contain (the spread) of the virus at all costs," Robed Amin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, told AFP.

In Dhaka, Sagar, an 18-year-old street vendor did not hide his anger.

"The government imposes confinement only to kill the poor. There will be no work for us, no help from anyone," he lamented to AFP.

Shops and offices have closed and only markets are allowed to open a few hours a day.

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Essential services and factories working for export, including brands like H&M and Walmart, can still operate.

- Vaccination resumes -

Touhidul Islam Chowdhury, who owns a small loan collection company, wants the lockdown to be "applied with severity".

"Many people die and are infected", he lamented, estimating that "the army should have deployed much earlier".

Bangladesh has declared 900,000 cases and just over 14,500 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but experts believe the actual toll is far higher.

More than two-thirds of new Covid-19 cases in Dhaka are due to the Delta variant, according to a study conducted from May 25 to June 7 by the International Center for Research on Diarrheal Diseases, based in the Bangladeshi capital.

Unlike the previous two waves, rural areas, where more than 60% of the population lives, have been affected by the pandemic.

In Satkhira district (southwest), authorities are investigating media reports that seven coronavirus patients have died in hospital due to lack of oxygen, local representative Humayun told AFP. Kabir.

The vaccination campaign resumed Thursday, health authorities said.

Television broadcast images showing hundreds of people rushing to a large hospital in Dhaka for vaccinations.

The first phase of vaccination came to an abrupt end when India stopped exporting doses of AstraZeneca earlier this year in order to meet its own demand.

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Bangladesh should receive this weekend a first delivery of the 2.5 million doses of Moderna promised by the United States.

According to an official at the Chinese Embassy, ​​Beijing will also send the two million doses of Sinopharm vaccines purchased by Dhaka, which will be in addition to the 1.1 million doses already offered by China.

© 2021 AFP