Aid workers are bracing for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus in one of the world's largest refugee camps in Bangladesh where more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are tightly packed.
In this Wednesday, April 1, 2020, photo, Rohingya refugees stand at the Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Aid workers are bracing for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus in one of the world's largest refugee camps in Bangladesh, but officials are already warning that containing the disease among more than 1 million tightly packed Rohingya Muslims will be a daunting task.
“We are doing our best to protect them, but if the virus breaks out it will be a tough job for all of us,” Mohammad Shamsuddoza, the additional refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner of Bangladesh, told The Associated Press by phone from Cox’s Bazar on the border with Myanmar, from where the Rohingya have fled a government crackdown.
Rachel Wolff, senior director for the aid group World Vision in Cox’s Bazar, said “social distancing is almost impossible for families.” The U.N. refugee agency said about 1,200 additional beds were being readied just outside the camps at Ukhiya and Teknaf. Others working in the camps are told to spread awareness about the virus. Mosque imams and local leaders have also been engaged.
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