Elders interviewed were aware that their age bracket faces higher risks of serious
infection, and requested support from humanitarians for chronic conditions that
leave them compromised. A 54-year-old woman shared the recent loss of her
husband, a possible Covid-19 patient with preexisting conditions:
We need soap for hand washing, a dust bin for keeping tidy, face masks,
hand lotion and hand gloves. At the beginning when we arrived in
Bangladesh, my husband’s leg was amputated because he suffered from
cancer. He also suffered diabetes. After the lockdown we couldn't buy
medicine from Cox's Bazar anymore due to the movement restrictions and
our reduced income. After Coronavirus appeared in the camps my
husband suffered from high fever, blood pressure and increased diabetes.
After five days he passed away. So, I want to raise awareness everywhere
about Coronavirus.
People need to know how we can avoid and treat
it.
A 62-year-old man shared his own concerns about the virus due to his age:
We definitely want assistance from humanitarian agencies to prevent the
spread of Coronavirus. I am 62 years old and I am suffering from major
diseases.
I am afraid, because Coronavirus is a very dangerous virus. So I
want to get help from any organization. I heard the disease immediately
affects those who are more than 60 years old, so it is necessary for me to
take very good care of myself.
Some young respondents voiced doubts about the existence of Covid-19 and
wanted humanitarian and government actors to understand their frustrations about
lockdown. One 27-year-old Rohingya NGO volunteer denied Covid-19 was present
in the camps and voiced doubts that more support from NGOs could be useful:
We don't want any more assistance besides whatever we are receiving
now. I don’t think the Coronavirus will come here, and
I don’t think the
supposed cases in the camps are real despite whatever is being said
about it. I don't feel comfortable when I hear about this Coronavirus, so
please don't ask me anything more about it. To me, talking about the
Coronavirus is like speaking some sort of gibberish.
A male NGO volunteer, a 25 years old living in Camp 1W, lamented various impacts
of the Covid-19 lockdown, and like many respondents, iterated that his overall
concern is about whether displaced Rohingya will be able to repatriate back to
Myanmar:
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