SARS-CoV-2 and Rohingya Refugee Camp, Bangladesh: Uncertainty and How the Government Took Over the Situation

Abstract

Simple Summary

Year-long, every human race is fighting against SARS-CoV-2 with their all resources. Since 2017, the Bangladeshi government is providing shelter to a huge number of Rohingya refugees, and now in this COVID-19 pandemic, the government is to provide all necessities and medical supports to this population, while the country hardly can fulfill all rights of her own population. This study analyzes the SARS-CoV-2 situation in the Rohingya refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar and found that the authority has done a great job taking control over the murrain compared to the host and over-all the worldwide situation. Although taken precautions are good enough till now, more detailed and pragmatic preparedness should be adopted for the worst scenario in case. Last but not least, this success would not be possible without the help of other non-governmental and international voluntary and professional organizations.

Abstract

Background: Bangladesh hosts more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The low health immunity, lifestyle, access to good healthcare services, and social-security cause this population to be at risk of far more direct effects of COVID-19 than the host population. Therefore, evidence-based forecasting of the COVID-19 burden is vital in this regard. In this study, we aimed to forecast the COVID-19 obligation among the Rohingya refugees of Bangladesh to keep up with the disease outbreak’s pace, health needs, and disaster preparedness. Methodology and Findings: To estimate the possible consequences of COVID-19 in the Rohingya camps of Bangladesh, we used a modified Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) transmission model. All of the values of different parameters used in this model were from the Bangladesh Government’s database and the relevant emerging literature. We addressed two different scenarios, i.e., the best-fitting model and the good-fitting model with unique consequences of COVID-19. Our best fitting model suggests that there will be reasonable control over the transmission of the COVID-19 disease. At the end of December 2020, there will be only 169 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Rohingya refugee camps. The average basic reproduction number ( ${\mathcal{R}}_0$ ) has been estimated to be 0.7563. Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that, due to the extensive precautions from the Bangladesh government and other humanitarian organizations, the coronavirus disease will be under control if the maintenance continues like this. However, detailed and pragmatic preparedness should be adopted for the worst scenario.