COVID-19 patient in Sittwe triggers quarantine for 19 people in close contact

By Kyaw Thu Htay 17 Aug 2020

Kyaw Thu Htay | DMG
17 August, Sittwe

Nineteen people including family members who have had close contact with a coronavirus-positive patient in the Arakan State capital Sittwe and staff of the CB Bank branch where the patient works have been placed under facility quarantine, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.

Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the department, said the department has placed the 19 people under quarantine on August 17 and instructed the CB Bank branch to temporarily suspend operations.

“We will take swabs of the people who have had close contact with the COVID-19 patient. They are under quarantine now,” Dr. Soe Win Paing said.

Case No. 375, as the patient is known, was admitted to Sittwe Hospital after feeling ill — with symptoms including runny nose, coughing and loss of smell — on August 12, and tested positive for COVID-19 on August 16.

The patient, who is a resident of Danyawadi (b) ward in Sittwe, and a fellow CB Bank staffer visited Kyaukphyu town on July 31 and Ponnagyun town on August 3, according to Dr. Soe Win Paing.

The department has begun a contact tracing process for potential interactions with people in the towns of Kyaukphyu and Ponnagyun, he said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Arakan State has risen to 17, but the preceding 16 patients have recovered and were discharged from hospitals.

The 17th patient is now receiving medical treatment at Sittwe Hospital.