YANGON—Myanmar reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS).
On the day, Myanmar conducted 5,352 COVID-19 tests on people suspected of having been infected with the coronavirus or who had a history of contact with known COVID-19 patients. Of these, 1,010—or 19 percent—tested positive.
As of Friday morning, Myanmar had reported a total of 14,383 COVID-19 cases including 321 fatalities and 4,156 recoveries.
In ASEAN, Myanmar ranks fourth in terms of COVID-19 cases after overtaking Malaysia’s 11,484. It is now behind only the Philippines with more than 314,000 cases, Indonesia (more than 291,000) and Singapore (more than 57,000). Myanmar is now third in terms of COVID-19 deaths in the region, after Indonesia with more than 10,800 and the Philippines with more than 5,500.
COVID-19 has been reported in 205 townships in 14 regions and states in the country, with only Kayah State reporting no cases, according to the MOHS.
Myanmar has been reporting around 700-900 new COVID-19 cases a day in recent days.
During the one-and-a-half months between Aug. 16 and Oct. 2, more than 14,000 COVID-19 cases were reported in the country, compared to the 374 cases including six deaths reported in the previous five months since the country’s first cases were reported on March 23.
A total of 315 COVID-19 cases were reported in the 28 days between Sept. 4 and Oct. 2.
As of Oct. 1, Myanmar’s commercial hub, Yangon, the center of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, had reported more than 10,000 cases. The city is currently reporting around 700 new cases a day, while the country’s second hardest-hit area, Rakhine State, has reported more than 1,400 cases.
On Tuesday, the MOHS started using COVID-19 antigen test kits in Yangon as part of its plan to “test, trace and isolate” as the city wages an “all-out battle” against the coronavirus pandemic, according to health officials.
Yangon health officials said they have prepared about 8,000 hospital beds and 1,500 more are being planned.
All Yangon Region residents have been under stay-at-home orders since Sept. 21, and the movement of people between the city’s townships has been strictly restricted. Garment factories have been ordered to cease operations until Oct. 7 and other businesses and organizations have been instructed to tell employees to work from home.
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