The administration in Cox’s Bazar has put 5,000 Rohingyas under lockdown at the Kutupalong camp after Covid-19 infections were reported from the refugee settlement.
Four Rohingya refugees have tested positive for Covid-19 so far and two of them, residents of Camp No. 5 at Kutupalong, tested positive on Friday.
All the 5,000 people at the same block will be tested, according to Health Coordinator of Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, Abu Toha M R H Bhuiyan, reports UNB.
Earlier, one Rohingya tested positive for Covid-19 at Kutupalong refugee settlement on Thursday. Besides, a member of the local host community also tested positive.
In April, the local administration imposed a lockdown in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar following the detection of a number of coronavirus cases in the district, restricting all traffic in and out of the camps.
After the first Covid-19 cases were confirmed in camps, aid workers raced to stop its spreading installing isolation treatment centres and hand washing stations.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said the Rohingyas who occupy the densely populated camps in Bangladesh are among the world's most vulnerable to the highly contagious virus, which has spread rapidly around the globe.
Aid workers have warned of a potential humanitarian disaster if there is a significant outbreak in the camps in Bangladesh, which has reported about 300 deaths from the virus.
Four Rohingyas infected
One more Rohingya refugee in Cox's Bazar tested positive for the deadly Covid-19 in a 24 hour span, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 4 from the community. The total cases in the district now stands at 174.
The matter was confirmed yesterday afternoon by Dr Anupam Barua, professor at Cox’s Bazar Medical College.
He said: “A total of 184 suspected samples were tested on Friday from the eight upazilas under the district, 34 Rohingya camps, Bandarban’s Naikhongchhari upazila, and Chittagong’s Lohagara upazila.
“24 of the samples tested positive for Covid-19 of which one was a follow up report of a patient who was detected earlier and one was a Rohingya refugee,” he added.
Of the rest, six are from Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila, eight from Chakaria upazila, seven from Ukhiya upazila, and one from Pekua upazila, he informed.
As many as 3731 Covid-19 suspected samples have been tested in the last 45 days at the coronavirus testing lab at Cox’s Bazar Medical College and 189 of them tested positive. Moheshkhali upazila accounts for 12 cases, while Teknaf has 7, Ukhiya 21, Ramu 3, Chakaria 61, Cox’s Bazar Sadar 43, Pekua 22, Kutubdia 1; 4 are from Rohingya camps and the rest are from nearby areas Bandarban, and Chittagong’s Lohagara and Satkania upazilas.
Our correspondent Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar contributed to this report.