Three more Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar tested positive of the deadly COVID -19, raising the total number of confirmed cases to four in the refugee camps, health authorities in Bangladesh said on Saturday.
All four people, which were the first cases in the camps, were immediately taken to an isolation centre after they tested positive on Thursday, aid agencies said.
To further protect the vulnerable community, Block-F of the Kutupalong-Lombasia Rohingya camp was locked down after the first case was reported, doctors at the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s office said.
As such, around 5,000 Rohingyas living in the block have been asked not to venture out of the camp until further notice from the authorities.
The Cox’s Bazar camps are known to be overcrowded and with poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, there is mounting concern about the impact a spread of the virus could have on refugees living there.
Since a military crackdown launched on Rohingya communities in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in August 2017, more than 740,000 members of the minority group have crossed the border and taken shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has over 17,800 confirmed virus cases with more than 260 deaths linked to COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. (Source: Mainichi Japan)