After the first Rohingya refugee had tested positive for the new coronavirus late last week, in an overcrowded refugee camp in Bangladesh, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) announced additional measures and appealed for funds to prevent further spread of the disease. 

Sheltering around 860,000 mainly Muslim Rohingyas who’ve fled neighbouring Myanmar, the camps have a population density one and a half times higher than New York City, raising serious concerns about the potentially severe impact of the virus. 

Communications Officer for UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Kasita Rochanakorn, described to UN News’s Anshu Sharma, what action the agency was taking.