Bangladesh has imposed a “complete lockdown” in Cox’s Bazar district — home to over a million Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar — to halt the spread of coronavirus, officials have said.

Experts have warned that the disease could spread quickly through the cramped, sewage-soaked alleys where the persecuted Muslim minority are housed in canvas and bamboo shacks.

No cases have been confirmed in the camps but one infection has been recorded nearby.

And with the official number of cases doubling to more than 200 nationwide in the last five days, including 20 deaths, officials ordered a lockdown of the district from late Wednesday. The area “will be put under complete lockdown — no entry, no exit — until the situation improves,” the directive said.