Myanmar Reports 69 COVID-19 Deaths in Six Days
By Zaw Zaw Htwe 23 September 2020
Yangon – Myanmar has reported around 3,000 additional COVID-19 cases, including 69 more deaths, within six days, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.
On Wednesday, Myanmar reported 6,959 cases, including 129 deaths and 1,951 recoveries.
Cases have risen by nearly 3,000 in the last six days.
Myanmar has experienced a wave of cases since Aug. 16, when the country’s first domestic transmission in a month was reported in the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe.
The country has since reported 6,585 cases, compared with 374 cases and six deaths in the five months after March 23, when the country’s first case was announced.
The health ministry said cases have been reported in 193 townships across 14 states and regions with only Kayah State reporting no coronavirus cases.
The COVID-19 hotspot is Yangon, which reported more than 4,700 cases on Tuesday, followed by Rakhine State with more than 1,100 reported cases.
The health ministry has ordered all Yangon residents, except for those on the islands of Cocokyun Township, to stay at home.
Garment factories in the city are also instructed to cease operations from Sept. 24 to Oct. 7. Other businesses and organizations have been ordered to work from home.
On Monday, Yangon regional chief minister U Phyo Min Thein said at the Yoma quarantine center that the authorities will enforce the restrictions until at least Oct. 7 and attempt to trace anyone with a contact history with known COVID-19 patients.
Around 600 new cases are being reported each day in the country, of which about 500 are in Yangon Region. Until Tuesday, more than 3,200 COVID-19 patients have been treated at hospitals in Yangon.
On Tuesday, Professor Zaw Wai Soe, vice-chairman of Yangon’s coordinating of COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment committee, urged anyone with symptoms, including loss of smell, to take a COVID-19 test at a clinic and volunteer for quarantine.
In Asean, Myanmar comes fifth in terms of reported COVID-19 cases after overtaking Thailand, which has reported more than 3,500 cases.
It is behind the Philippines, which has reported more than 292,000 cases, Indonesia with more than 253,000 cases, Singapore with more than 57,000 cases and Malaysia with more than 10,300 cases.
Myanmar’s death toll is approaching Malaysia’s 130 deaths, fourth in Asean.
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