Aid workers and community leaders interviewed say Rohingya refugee fears of being separated from their families and held in isolation are hampering testing efforts in the crowded Cox’s Bazar refugee complex in Bangladesh. Only one death has been recorded, fears are that the novel Coronavirus may be spreading faster than the 29 confirmed cases as of mid-May. Although 860,000 refugees live in the camp, only 339 tests have been conducted, and one community organizer noted that camp hospitals are empty but makeshift medical shops are busy, where it is presumed refugees are going for self-treatment. IOM noted clinic visits dropped by 50% in March. Yale University researchers, who interviewed hundreds of refugees in April, found about a quarter of interviewees reported at least one Coronavirus symptom. 

The fear is clearly connected to Bangladeshi restrictions on movement as well as internet and mobile communications, which we indicated in an earlier SPOTLIGHT news report, infringe on refugee rights to health and freedom of movement. (Reuters)