Yangon – Myanmar’s COVID-19 cases have exceeded 100,000 with up to 1,500 cases being reported per day.
On Tuesday morning, Myanmar reported 100,431 coronavirus cases, including 2,132 fatalities and 79,240 recoveries.
In a televised speech on Monday evening, Myanmar’s State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said 74 percent of the cases and 92.7 percent of the deaths have been reported in Yangon.
She asked residents of Yangon to comply with COVID-19 preventative instructions after seeing people breaching the rules.
The state counselor added that high infection rates were to be expected in the city due to the population density and frequent travel.
But the willingness of residents to abide by the rules is an important factor in controlling coronavirus, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said.
Yangon on Monday reported 71,684 COVID-19 cases.
Hundreds of Yangon residents recently visited parks and Yangon University during the Tazaungdaing holidays and other weekends, despite stay-at-home orders in the city.
Many people have expressed concern about others breaching stay-at-home orders, saying gatherings can boost the spread of coronavirus.
The Yangon authorities have been criticized for failing to enforce the rules. On Monday, Maha Bandoola Park in the city center was closed after it became crowded with visitors.
Yangon is reporting a slowing in new cases but rates are rising in Mandalay, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions and Rakhine State.
On Monday, Mandalay Region, the country’s second hardest-hit region or state, reported 7,676 COVID-19 cases followed by Bago Region with 5,946 cases, Rakhine State with 3,903 cases and Ayeyarwady Region with 3,447 cases.
All residents in the seven townships in Mandalay District have been ordered to stay at home until Dec. 18.
Mandalay’s roads are currently largely empty of people and vehicles.
Myanmar is third in Asean in terms of COVID-19 cases, behind Indonesia and the Philippines.
Myanmar has been experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 since Aug. 16, when the country’s first domestic transmission in a month was reported in the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe.
Since Aug. 16, 100,057 COVID-19 cases and 2,126 deaths have been reported in the country.
The country only reported 374 COVID-19 cases and six deaths between late March and mid-July.
Cases have been reported in more than 200 townships across 15 regions and states.
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