Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) reveals hundreds of Bangladesh garment factories have defied a nationwide coronavirus lockdown to reopen, raising fears the industry's vulnerable and largely female workforce could be exposed to the contagion.
MB Knit reopened part of a factory that makes clothing for Primark and several other retailers. These factories had shut their doors in late March but some suppliers are now being pushed by retailers to fulfill outstanding export orders.
More than four million people work in thousands of garment factories across Bangladesh, which last year shipped out $35bn of apparel to retailers such as H&M, Inditex and Walmart last year - second only to China.
