Shoppers thronged grocery stores, super shops and kitchen markets across Dhaka yesterday following the announcement of a fresh nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.

With the rate of coronavirus infections at an all-time high, the government recently declared a seven-day lockdown beginning on Monday.

This led to growing concerns among the masses of a further price hike for daily essentials.

As such, people like Shariful Islam rushed to the nearest shopping mall within hours of the announcement to stock up on daily essentials.

"I came here [to the mall] soon after hearing the news broke so that I can make the necessary purchases before the price of goods goes up due to the upcoming lockdown," said Islam, a private job holder.

Islam went on to say that since the cost of essential commodities rises ahead of Ramadan, it would not be possible for him to bear the added burden if prices go even higher due to the lockdown.

Another shopper told this correspondent that he visits his local retail outlet every Saturday.

"But considering the upcoming lockdown, I bought more of each item so that I can use them in case of emergency even in Ramadan," he said.

Besides, considering the current prices trend, there is no guarantee that it will not increase further in the future, he added.

During a visit to Karwan Bazar, one the biggest commodity markets in Dhaka, it was seen that most customers were buying goods in larger quantities than needed.

Taking to The Daily Star, multiple shoppers voiced similar concerns over a possible price hike of daily necessities.

Shaheen Khan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Meena Bazar, said after a fresh lockdown was announced, the number of shoppers increased significantly by noon the same day.

"But I wouldn't call it a panic buy as the number of customers increased slightly. About 25 per cent more customers were seen today [Saturday]," he added.

Murtoza Zaman, CEO of Unimart, echoed the same.

"What we are seeing here is that there is a tendency among customers to buy more food items, apparently to prepare for a seven-day lockdown," Zaman said.

"But the situation is not similar to that of last year, when there was complete chaos in the markets as none of us had any idea of what was going to happen," he added.

The Unimart CEO also said despite the stockpiling tendency among some customers, there will be no supply shortage of essential commodities.

Over the last two days, the price of a few daily essentials, including rice, oil onion, potato, lentils, garlic, ginger and chickpea, rose by Tk 5 to Tk 15 per kilogramme (kg) at some kitchen markets in the capital.

Yesterday, coarse rice was sold for Tk 55 per kg while onion Tk 40, up from Tk 35 a month ago.

At the same time, the price of soyabean oil rose to Tk 139 from Tk 130 per litre while flour was sold for Tk 75 per kg, up from Tk 70.

The price of both garlic and chickpeas grew by Tk 5 to hit Tk 115 and Tk 80 per kg respectively.

However, Narayan Saha, a wholesaler at the biggest wholesale market in Dhaka's Shyambazar, said the price of onion and garlic had remained stable yesterday.

Humayun Kabir, spokesperson of state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), said open market sales through mobile trucks will continue during the lockdown.

The state agency, which sells certain essential foods at subsidised or below-market prices, added 100 trucks to its fleet on April 1, bringing the total to 500 in order to help more people buy key commodities ahead of Ramadan.

"We operated trucks during the general holiday last year so our trucks will be on but we are unlikely to increase the number of trucks further," Kabir said.

Asked whether the allotment or quantity of commodities for each buyer will be increased considering the lockdown, he said there will be no upward revision.