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The first known cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Bangladesh refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar, the United Nations said Thursday, citing the Bangladeshi government.
The camps at Cox’s Bazar are home to almost a million Rohingya refugees, many of whom fled across the border into Bangladesh to escape violence in neighboring Myanmar.
One of the confirmed cases was a Rohingya refugee, and the other was a Bangladeshi citizen living in the vicinity of the camps, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
Bangladesh currently has at least 18,863 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 283 deaths, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
Government response: The Bangladeshi government suspended most services within the densely populated camps in late March, including educational programs and other advocacy work.
Health authorities have now begun treating both patients while isolating and evaluating other refugees in the camps, the agency said.
Covid in the camps is “a nightmare”: “The first positive Covid-19 case in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh is the realization of a nightmare scenario,” said Daniel P. Sullivan, a human rights defender at the US organization Refugees International.
“Furthermore, the prevalence of underlying health conditions among refugees and the deterioration of sanitary conditions that will surely come with the impending monsoon and the flood season make the witch grow in conditions where the virus will surely thrive,” he added. Sullivan.
Sullivan also emphasized the importance of the Bangladesh government’s efforts to ensure open communication, as well as more medical resources within the refugee camp to prevent and prepare for further spread.
CNN has reached out to the Bangladesh government for comment.
