Bangladesh: Growing fear of virus outbreak in Rohingya camps

Sub-title: 

Recent cases in crammed camps 'alarming' situation, says doctor

Description: 

"There is growing fear of the rapid spread of coronavirus in Bangladesh's crammed refugee camps housing more than one million Rohingya after three cases were confirmed recently. “The lethal virus has finally started infecting the overcrowded Rohingya camps. It’s an alarming situation for us,” said Mahbubur Rahman, a government civil surgeon in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal district where the camps are located. Bangladeshi authorities have stepped up ongoing restrictions in the sprawling camps, scaling down the presence of aid organizations while the local administration declared a strict ban on the presence of any outsiders at camps. In early May, over 300 Rohingya were moved to a remote and uninhabited islet citing risks of coronavirus contamination in the camps. “Since the very beginning of the first case we have been taking all precautionary measures, but ultimately one Rohingya has been reported positive for COVID-19 along with another host community member who worked at a grocery shop inside the camps,” Rahman told Anadolu Agency. The infected local resident has been isolated at his house near the Rohingya camps..."

Creator/author: 

Md. Kamruzzaman

Source/publisher: 

"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)

Date of Publication: 

2020-05-16

Date of entry: 

2020-05-16

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Countries: 

Myanmar, Bangladesh

Language: 

English

Resource Type: 

text

Text quality: 

    • Good