YANGON—Myanmar reported 100 new cases of COVID-19 between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, the country’s largest overnight jump in cases since its first case was detected on March 23.
The previous largest jump in Myanmar’s official COVID-19 tally was 53, but those occurred over a longer period, between Friday evening and Monday morning.
The 100 new cases, of which 99 are local transmissions and one is imported, were detected in just 12 hours from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) said.
The spate of cases also includes the country’s youngest patient so far, a 2-month-old female infant from Rakhine’s Mrauk-U Township who tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into contact with a known COVID-19 patient, Case No. 440.
The MOHS released the details of 30 of the new COVID-19 patients on Tuesday evening, followed by those of the other 70 patients at noon on Wednesday.
According to the history lists of the 100 patients, most are from several townships in Rakhine State; of these, all are linked to the cluster that was first detected in the Rakhine state capital, Sittwe, in mid-August.
From Aug. 16-26, COVID-19 was detected first in Sittwe and then later in 10 more townships in Rakhine State—Kyaukphyu, Thandwe, Pauktaw, Buthidaung, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw and Ponnagyun —as well as in Mon State and Yangon Region.
All of the people who tested positive in those areas had a history of traveling to Sittwe or had been in contact with a known COVID-19 patient from Sittwe.
In response to the latest spike, the MOHS on Wednesday imposed partial lockdowns in four more townships in Rakhine State—Kyaukphyu, Ann, Thandwe and Taungup.
Residents of the four townships have been instructed to stay at home.
The MOHS and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged members of the public to report to their respective local authorities or health-care centers if they are aware of someone in their area who has recently traveled to a restricted area known to be affected by COVID-19 such as Sittwe, or if they know of anybody who has a history of illegal travel to or entry from a foreign country.
After detecting no locally transmitted cases since July 17, Myanmar reported its first locally transmitted COVID-19 case in a month on Aug. 16—a 26-year-old employee of CB Bank in Sittwe.
As of Wednesday morning, Myanmar had reported 574 COVID-19 cases including six deaths and 341 recoveries.
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