ugc_banner

Two Rohingyas refugees test positive in world's largest camp

WION Web Team
Dhaka, BangladeshUpdated: May 15, 2020, 08:08 PM IST
main img
A Rohingya refugee walks at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

According to officials, these are the first confirmed cases among refugees in Cox's Bazar, where around one million Rohingya are encamped.

Two rohingyas have tested positive for coronavirus in the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh.

According to officials, these are the first confirmed cases among refugees in Cox's Bazar, where around one million Rohingya are encamped.

The UN confirmed that an ethnic Rohingya refugee and another person had tested positive for COVID-19 in Cox Bazar. 

''Both patients are in isolation and contact tracing is underway,'' the UN's refugee agency said in a statement.

The camps in Cox’s Bazar are more densely populated than some of the world’s busiest cities and have been under lockdown since 14 March, in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading.

Aid groups have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster after coronavirus was detected for the first time in the sprawling camps that host about one million Rohingya refugees.

Humanitarian groups fear the virus could race through the camps, where families live with up to 10 people in a room, often with limited access to basics such as soap and clean water.

Households are forced to queue to access drinking water and food at communal distribution points, making social distancing impossible.

On top of overcrowding, many refugees, who fled persecution in Myanmar, have underlying health conditions or have not received standard immunisations, according to health experts.

The Rohingyas are one of the many ethnic minorities in the country and have faced persecution for generations.