Vigorous services should follow lockdown in Rohingya Camps

AMID a huge surge in Covid-19 cases in the region, a 10-day complete lockdown has been imposed in Teknaf Upazila of Cox’s Bazar while a week-long lockdown has been announced in five Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas. Cox’s Bazar District Corona Prevention Committee has decided to impose the lockdown following a surge of infection in the camps over the last few weeks. A total of 863 Covid-19 cases and 13 deaths have so far been reported among the more than a million Rohingyas living in 34 camps in the district. The first Covid-19 case was reported in a camp in May last year, more than two months after Bangladesh reported its first cases in March.
An international news agency reported that on Wednesday 45 Rohingyas tested positive for the virus out of 247 tested. The same number of Rohingyas also tested positive on Thursday. Law enforcement agencies were asked to strictly monitor the lockdown so that the residents stay indoors. Shops and transportation services in the area will also remain closed. The infection rate is alarming. Since the virus was detected last year in the camps, Bangladesh authorities have tightly controlled visitors’ entry into the area, amid fear that Covid-19 could wreak a havoc in the extremely congested settlements. The restrictions helped keep down new cases and deaths. The authorities have used loudspeakers to warn people in the camps about the restrictions.
New cases and deaths were also rising among the host population, prompting the authorities to impose a lockdown in the southern-most border town of Teknaf. The aid agencies and global donors should extend their helping hands for health and hygiene practices and create an awareness campaign for Covid-19. The UNHCR and humanitarian agencies should provide free vaccines to the persecuted people and the host communities as an outbreak of infections in the crammed camps may trigger another humanitarian disaster if precautions are not taken. However care should be taken to ensure that the refugees compelled to keep indoors do not remain unfed. The government should coordinate the parties involving all stakeholders for a vaccination programme in the camps.