YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sports confirmed on Monday that two Myanmar nationals who recently arrived from overseas have tested positive for COVID-19 in Chin State and Yangon Region. One had traveled to the United States and another had visited the UK during the past 14 days.
As the coronavirus outbreak has escalated since late January after it began in Wuhan, China, the Myanmar government has taken precautionary measures, including banning public gatherings, cancelling the Thingyan new year’s water festival and temporarily suspending all visas-on-arrival and e-visas until the end of April.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced last Friday that all incoming travelers arriving from 14 countries—Italy, Iran, France, Spain, Germany, the United States, Switzerland, the UK, Netherland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Belgium—must be quarantined for 14 days at government facilities.
MOFA also said that Myanmar nationals who have been in high-risk areas such as China’s Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, and South Korea’s Daegu and Gyeongbuk Region in the past 14 days will be subject to a 14-day quarantine in government facilities.
Myanmar has currently quarantined 273 people at hospitals across the country: 126 people in South Okkalapa Hospital and 54 people in Waibargi Hospital in Yangon, 67 people in Kandawnadi Hospital in Mandalay, and 26 people at hospitals in other regions and states.
Here, The Irrawaddy breaks down key data on the COVID-19 global pandemic for Myanmar.
You may also like these stories:
Myanmar is Combating Fake News in the Time of Coronavirus
Myanmar-Based Diplomats Told to Cancel Events Amid Coronavirus Fears
