By Rafiqur Rahman
DHAKA (Reuters) – The only graveyard dedicated to COVID-19 victims in Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka is seeing a substantial increase in burials amid a fresh wave of infections that has forced the country into an extended lockdown.
The Rayerbazar graveyard, which sits on the outskirts of north Dhaka, is the only place COVID-19 victims have been buried since April 2020.
“Every day 15 to 20 bodies arrive at this graveyard for burial, and for these bodies we prepared all these graves in advance. Thousands of people are dying,” said Jasimuddin, the caretaker of Rayerbazar who goes by one name, after a burial on Wednesday.
The Dhaka Tribune reported that the graveyard buried 27 coronavirus victims in January, nine in February and 55 in March. But in April, burials spiked to over 100 in just the first two weeks.
New plots are being dug at the 80-acre (32 hectare) graveyard every day as a result.
Bangladesh on Tuesday recorded 3,031 new cases of COVID-19 and 78 deaths. In total, the country has registered 754,614 coronavirus cases and 11,305 deaths.
(Reporting by Rafiqur Rahman; Editing by Karishma Singh and Gerry Doyle)
