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How CRS is helping refugees amid coronavirus

A Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. Credit: DFID (CC BY 2.0).

(CNA) There are nearly 700,000 refugees living in close quarters in the world's largest refugee settlements in Bangladesh, making them vulnerable as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spreads. 

Caroline Brennan, Catholc Relief Services’ emergency communications director, told CNA that in areas where CRS is serving refugees, such as in Bangladesh, they are adapting their programs as quickly as possible so they are still relevant and safe during the pandemic.

“In this case, when we're looking at a virus like the coronavirus...there is such a heightened vulnerability in these settlements, where you have very large populations in extremely congested environments, and where multi-generational family members are living in really tight quarters," Bennan said.

Many countries have adopted stay-at-home orders and strict social distancing measures in response to the virus. For the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh, Brennan said, and in many other areas where refugees are, it can be almost impossible for people to distance themselves from others in this way.

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