Six new Covid-19 cases detected at locked down Sinbawkaing IDP camp

By DMG 16 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
16 July 2021, Mrauk-U 

Six new coronavirus cases have been detected at Sinbawkaing IDP camp in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township since it was locked down due to a female IDP testing positive for Covid-19 on July 14. 

About 200 IDPs considered to have possibly been infected were tested for Covid-19 after the initial case was reported, said U Nyi Pu, the camp’s manager.  

“We did not isolate people who had contact with the first positive case. The health department came and tested about 200 people today. And six of them tested positive for Covid-19,” he said. 

The six new virus-positive IDPs are now isolated at a school, and healthcare personnel who conducted the Covid-19 testing at the camp said they would send health workers to attend to the infected people, U Nyi Pu said.  

“Two of the Covid-19 positive people are in their 40s and 50s. We’ve been told to watch them for 11 days,” he added. 

Ko Myo Hlaing, a medical assistant in Mrauk-U Township, said his team conducted the Covid-19 testing at Sinbawkaing IDP camp only, and confirmed that six people tested positive for the virus. 

U Nyi Pu said the camp is under lockdown and only has enough rice to last 10 days, in addition to lacking other basic foodstuffs.  

“The IDPs could catch fish or forage for vegetables outside the camp previously. Now, they cannot go outside the camp and they might face starvation,” he said. 

As of July 16, Arakan State had reported 1,151 cases of Covid-19 and 29 deaths attributed to the disease, with 293 patients discharged from hospitals since the third wave of the pandemic began in late May.