A brief report on the first three weeks of Action Against Hunger Cox’s Bazar Base’s activities in the COVID-19 humanitarian crisis response. REPORT: COVID -19 RESPONSE COX’S BAZAR, CHATTOGRAM MARCH 25 - APRIL 15, 2020 COVID-19 RESPONSE PREVENTING CAUSES AND ALLEVIATING EFFECTS OF A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30th January 2020 and a pandemic on 11th March 2020. Local transmission of the disease has been recorded in most countries across all six WHO regions. Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, avoiding crowded places, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practicing good respiratory hygiene and avoiding touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. To slow down the spread of COVID-19 countries all around the world are putting their citizens on various forms of lockdown. In Bangladesh, the first three known cases of COVID-19 were reported on 7th March 2020 by the country's epidemiology institute IEDCR. Infections stayed low till the end of March but saw a steep rise in April. To prevent the spread, on 22nd March 2020, Bangladesh declared a 10- day shutdown effective from 26th March 2020 to 4th April 2020, which was then extended to 14th April 2020 and followed by a further extension up to 25th April 2020. Considering the infectious nature of the virus, the lockdown is an important measure to slow down its spread. However, a significant percentage of the Bangladeshi population work in the informal sector and depend on daily earnings and therefore, have been left jobless. And naturally, some parts of the country are affected more than the others. Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas, for instance, are among the 50 most socially deprived Upazilas in Bangladesh and the Rohingya influx in 2017 has further aggravated the situation. Furthermore, considering Cox’s Bazar is largely dependent on tourism, the COVID-19 pandemic followed by the shutdown has made it more susceptible to social and economic crisis. To address the situation, Action Against Hunger Cox’s Bazar Base has started its COVID-19 response activities on the 25th of March, 2020 in Cox’s Bazar district as well as in the Rohingya Camps. In the beginning of this response there was no dedicated fund but to quickly respond to this humanitarian crisis, Action Against Hunger utilized flexibility of some existing budgets while maintaining full compliances of different project parameters (e.g.: geographic locations, vulnerable population target groups, etc.). Our heartfelt thanks to our donors whose quick support enabled us to stand behind the most vulnerable population of Cox’s Bazar during this humanitarian crisis. The response activities include installation of hand-washing points, disinfection of areas, cooked food distribution, awareness raising, mental health and psychosocial support and emergency health care services. In order to ensure cleanliness amidst the pandemic, Action Against Hunger conducted disinfection activities and installed hand- washing points replenishing water and soap as required, in the key locations of all 8 Upazilas (sub-district) of Cox’s Bazar district. 6,500 packets of cooked food have been distributed Page 1 of 32 among the most vulnerable families affected by the shutdown due to Covid-19. Action Against Hunger also provided Mental health and psychosocial support to people who are in home quarantine via tele-counselling. Mass awareness has been done by miking COVID-19 prevention messages in 5 Upazilas of Cox’s Bazar. Action Against Hunger has also conducted sessions with Majhis and Imams in an attempt to ensure proper dissemination of messages at all levels. KEY AREAS OF INTERVENTION Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 165 Hand-washing point installed 7032 Hygiene kits distributed to 3516 HHs Public areas, including 3810 Latrines and 77693 rft. drainage, disinfected using 83471.3 liter chlorine solution Hygiene awareness sessions at 19822 HHS 375 Hygiene awareness individual meetings with community leaders (Imam & Majhi) Food Security, Livelihood and Disaster Risk Reduction 6500 packets of cooked food (Hot meal) distributed to vulnerable population Mental Health Care Practices Gender and Protection 363 tele-counselling sessions Communication with Communities 22 Unions of 5 Sub-districts covered through mass awareness raising through miking. 412 Audio-Video sessions and Q/A sessions on COVID-19 and Hygiene practices. Mass awareness raising through social media platforms. Page 2 of 32 SECTORWISE INTERVENTIONS COVID-19 RESPONSE COVERAGE MAP Page 3 of 32 WASH INTERVENTIONS Page 4 of 32 INSTALLATION OF HAND-WASHING POINTS One of the most important ways to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 is to wash hands frequently with soap and water. Therefore, Action Against Hunger Cox’s Bazar Base has taken an initiative to ensure that people get a chance to wash their hands frequently even when they are out on the street. As of 15th April 2020, Action Against Hunger has installed 165 hand-washing points in different locations of Cox’s Bazar district. The availability of water and soap in the hand-washing points encourages people to wash their hands frequently. This simple practice will not only prevent the spread of COVID-19 but also make people accustomed to good hygiene practice. Mahadi Muhammad, the Divisional Director of Action Against Hunger inaugurated the handwashing-point installation activity on the 26th of March, 2020 in Cox’s Bazar along with law enforcement agency staff. He said that this initiative is a gesture from Action Against Hunger to the people of Cox’s Bazar in view of the Independence Day of Bangladesh. Mojibur Rahaman, Mayor of Cox’s Bazar Municipality also visited different hand-washing points installed by Action Against Hunger and extremely appreciated the noble initiative. At the Sub-district level, the UNOs of Ramu, Teknaf, Ukhia, Pekua, Chokoria, Moheshkhali and Kutubdia inaugurated the hand-washing point installation in their respective Upazila. All of them appreciated this life-saving initiative taken by Action Against Hunger. Photo: Divisional Director of Action Against Hunger is demonstrating proper handwashing process to a policeman Figure 1 shows the percentage and number of hand-washing points installed in different locations (both in Rohingya camps and in the host community) of Cox’s Bazar district. As seen in the figure, most of the hand-washing points have been installed in Cox’s Bazar Sadar, followed by the Rohingya Camps, Ukhiya, Moheshkhali, Teknaf, Pekua and Chakaria Upazila. Page 5 of 32 23% (38) 33% (54) Cox's Bazar Sadar Ramu Teknaf Ukhiya 3%(05) Moheshkhali 3% (05) Chakaria Pekua Refugee camp 9% (15) 11% (18) 10% (16) 8% (14) Figure 1 - Handwashing points Installed in different areas (Host & Camps) Monitoring and replenishing of soap and water Action Against Hunger understands the importance of continuously replenishing water and soap to keep the hand-washing points functional. Hence, the emergency response team of Action Against Hunger has been regularly monitoring the hand-washing points to ensure adequate water and soaps are available at all times. The response team is also ensuring that the hand-washing points are clean and accessible in both the host community and the Rohingya Camp. During the reporting time period (25th March 2020 - 15th April 2020) different hand-washing points were refilled with 64,440 liter of water. 1,237 pieces of additional soaps were also placed in points that ran out of soap. A summary of installed hand-washing points’ locations is in Annex-A. Page 6 of 32 Page 7 of 32 DISINFECTION ACTIVITIES Action Against Hunger has started disinfection activities from 26th of March, 2020, to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus. The Mayor of Cox’s Bazar Municipality and DC of Cox’s Bazar district inaugurated the disinfection activity in Cox’s Bazar Sadar. Action Against Hunger’s disinfection activities are ongoing in different sub-districts of the Cox’s Bazar district. The Government officials along with elected representatives are also taking part in the disinfection activities. Apart from disinfecting the streets, Action Against Hunger has also initiated disinfecting Hospitals, Diagnostic centers, Religious institutions, Government offices and Market areas. So far, 79 institutions have been disinfected with Chlorine mixed solution. In the Rohingya Camp, disinfection activities were carried out in WASH facilities such as latrines, bathing cubicles and drain lines. A total of 3,810 latrines and bathing cubicles and 77,693 RFT drainage were disinfected during the reporting period. The disinfection activities have been greatly appreciated by the Government as well as local people. Everybody is welcoming Action Against Hunger’s initiatives while also hoping that such humanitarian support will be continued in the future. The UNOs of different Upazilas are spontaneously taking part in the activities and also helping Action Against Hunger to run the activities without hindrance. Details of areas disinfected is in Annex-B. Photo: Disinfecting a public hospital in Cox’s Bazar District Photo: Inauguration of Public area Disinfection Activity by DC of Cox's Bazar and Divisional Director of Action Against Hunger Page 8 of 32 Page 9 of 32 HYGIENE PROMOTION ACTIVITIES Cox’s Bazar is highly susceptible to COVID-19 outbreak due to the huge number of exposed populations at registered and makeshift camp settlements. Aligned with humanitarian drive, Action Against Hunger Cox’s Bazar Base started taking significant preventive measures such as installing hand-washing points and distributing Hygiene kits in the Rohingya camp.