Yangon Minister Quarantined After Coronavirus Contact

By Htet Khaung Lin 24 March 2020

Yangon – Yangon Region’s Health Department has enforced home quarantine on the regional social affairs minister, U Naing Ngan Lin, after he had contact with a student who has tested positive with the coronavirus.

The order came after U Naing Ngan Lin had contact with students who came back from overseas studies in England two days ago, and one of them has since tested positive for COVID-19.

“We met the students who came back from England on March 22 and 23. I did not make close contact with them. But as one of them has been tested positive for COVID-19, I have been instructed to stay at home for 14 days. I will have to stay away from my family. My health is good so far,” U Naing Ngan Lin told The Irrawaddy.

“I have handed over my government duties to the transport minister, Daw Nilar Kyaw. I will stay at home. The chief minister will lead from the front if and when unusual cases arise,” he added.

Around midnight on Monday, the Ministry of Health and Sports reported its first confirmed cases of coronavirus in two men—a 36-year-old ethnic Chin man who returned from the United States on March 13 and is currently in Chin State’s Tedim; and a 26-year-old Yangon resident who returned from the United Kingdom.

According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus has spread across 188 countries, including Myanmar, and the death toll exceeded 14,000 on Monday.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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