Ten microbuses full of workers of different Export Processing Zones (EPZ) factories who fled in fear of coronavirus infection, were held while entering Khagrachhari early Friday.

Officer-in-charge of Khagrachhari Police Station Mohammad Rashid said they handed over 98 workers to the hospital authorities at Bangabandhu Square area.

Detained workers said they had been working at different EPZs including of Dhaka, Cumilla and Chattogram and have fled from there fearing coronavirus infection.

Residential Medical Officer of Sadar Hospital Dr Purna Jibon Chakma said the workers have been directed stay in home quarantine.

The workers had been working at EPZs amid the national lockdown while Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) recommended closure of all factories as the general holiday was extended.

Bangladesh, the second largest exporter of readymade goods after China, earns majority of its foreign currencies from this sector which employs more than four million people, mostly women.

Meanwhile, six more people died from coronavirus in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 27. The country has so far confirmed 424 cases.