Two women are latest Covid fatalities in growing Taungup Twsp death toll

By DMG 15 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
15 July 2021, Taungup   

Two women infected with Covid-19 in Taungup Township, Arakan State, died on Thursday morning, and total fatalities statewide since June 28 reached 26.   

U Than Win, the township’s Information and Public Relations Department head, described the deceased as elderly, with comorbidities including diabetes and hypertension. 

“The death toll due to Covid-19 infection has risen to seven in Taungup Township now. The two women who died today had underlying diseases. They died while being provided supplemental oxygen,” he told DMG, adding that Taungup Township was not currently facing an oxygen supply shortage, unlike other parts of Arakan State and the country more broadly. 

Covid-19 and its multiple variants can cause serious, sometimes fatal respiratory problems, and oxygen demand is currently on the rise across Myanmar as more and more patients are fitted with oxygen tubes.

 “Oxygen supplies are being brought from Kyaukphyu and the defence industry,” U Than Win said.  

With seven fatalities in less than two weeks, Taungup has been one of the hardest-hit townships in Arakan State to date.  

More than 40 Covid-19 patients are being provided medical treatment at the township hospital in Taungup, with some of them requiring supplemental oxygen. 

As of July 15, Arakan State recorded 1,151 cases of Covid-19 during the pandemic’s ongoing third wave, with 26 fatalities attributed to the virus. Nationwide, there were 4,188 new cases and 165 Covid-related deaths on Thursday alone, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.