Myanmar’s COVID-19 Cases Rise Outside Yangon
By Zaw Zaw Htwe 15 December 2020
Yangon – Myanmar is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases in seven regions and states while the numbers of new cases slow in Yangon.
Yangon reached a daily peak in new cases of more than 1,900 cases on Oct. 10.
The city is reporting between 500 to 700 COVID-19 cases per day and, on Monday, it announced 76,992 cases and over 2,074 deaths.
Up to 300 new cases are being reported per day in Mandalay, Bago, Ayeyarwady, Magwe and Sagaing regions and Mon and Rakhine states.
Mandalay Region follows Yangon in terms of case numbers with more than 300 new cases per day.
On Monday, Mandalay has reported 9,602 COVID-19 and more than 110 deaths.
More than 6,700 suspected coronavirus carriers are being held in 347 quarantine centers.
U Sai Pan Saing, the Shan ethnic affairs minister in Mandalay Region, told the media that the regional government is converting parts of Mandalay University and the Technological University in the city into quarantine centers to boost capacity.
All residents in the seven townships in Mandalay District have been ordered to follow stay-at-home orders until Dec. 18.
By Sunday, more than 11,000 fines for 5,000 kyats (US$3.6) have been issued per day to residents defying stay-at-home orders, U Sai Pan Saing said.
The next hardest-hit is Bago Region which on Monday reported 6,506 COVID-19 cases, followed by Rakhine State with 4,033, Ayeyarwady with 3,855, Magwe with 2,095, Mon State with 1,884 and Sagaing Region with 1,329 cases.
The Ministry of Health and Sports expects to start providing COVID-19 vaccines to about 20 percent of Myanmar’s 54.4 million population by April under the global Covax affordable medicines program.
Myanmar is reporting more than 1,400 COVID-19 cases and approximately 25 deaths per day.
As of Tuesday morning, Myanmar has reported 109,512 COVID-19 cases, including 2,292 fatalities and 88,131 recoveries.
Myanmar is third in terms of COVID-19 cases in Asean behind Indonesia and the Philippines.
The country has been experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 with soaring cases since Aug. 16 when the country’s first domestic transmission in a month was detected in the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe.
Cases have been reported in more than 200 townships across 15 regions and states.
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