Ashmida Begum speaks to Rohingya refugees in Cox' Bazar, the world's largest refugee settlement, about the coronavirus on June 20, 2020. Photo Credit: BRAC via Thomson Reuters Foundation

Health Bangladesh31. August 2020

This Woman Debunks Corona Myths: Drinking Tea Doesn’t Repel the Virus… Nor Does Praying.

Ashmida Begum, a Rohingya refugee in the Cox’s Bazar camps, the largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh, goes from door to door in the hopes of dispelling dangerous myths about the coronavirus.

“There are many rumours in the camp. Using the Quran, I explain diseases have been present since the time of our prophet… and that we all need to stay clean and help each other to win against it,” says Begum, a cleric in her 30s from Myanmar. “I started receiving a lot more questions once the first cases of virus were found in the camps.”

Social distancing is impossible in the camps. And one myth that circulates is that COVID-19 can’t harm Muslims since it originated in China. Begum is a trusted member of the community who can effectively educate women and children – the majority of the camp’s population – about the virus.

Source:
Thomson Reuters Foundation

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