Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Bangladesh implementing lockdown regulations in five refugee camps Rohingya due to an increase in disease transmission due to the corona virus or Covid-19.
“We are implementing austerity measures starting today because of the sudden increase in the spread of the corona virus in the five camps,” the deputy commissioner for Bangladesh refugee affairs, Shamsud Douza, told AFP, Thursday (20/5).
Douza then said that with this lockdown rule, refugees were not allowed to gather and carry out inter-camp movements in Cox’s Bazar.
The movement of volunteers in the camps is also severely restricted. Only volunteers in the health and food distribution sections are allowed to enter the five Rohingya camps.
The health coordinator at the Rohingya camp, Toha Bhuiyan, said that this rule was put in place after the drastic increase in Covid-19 transmission in Rohingya camps in recent days.
Bhuiyan explained that on Wednesday (19/5) alone, 45 people tested positive for Covid-19 out of 247 Rohingya refugees who underwent tests. On Thursday, they also reported a similar figure.
Cox’s Bazar Medical College leader, Anupom Barua, said that the current number of corona infections is very worrying compared to previous periods.
Barua stated that currently his party was investigating the cause of this sudden infection.
The reason is, since the first Covid-19 cases were detected in Rohingya camps last year, they have immediately implemented strict rules for people who enter the area.
This effort was considered successful because the cases of Covid-19 transmission in the Rohingya camps since then have been minimal.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has started the corona vaccination program since last February. To date, six million Bangladeshis have been vaccinated, but the program has not yet reached the Rohingya camps.
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