Covid-19 infections falling in Gwa Township

By DMG 16 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
16 September 2021, Gwa 

The Covid-19 infection rate in Gwa Township, Arakan State, is decreasing following a strict local regulation that was imposed last month. 

Authorities in Gwa Township on August 25 ordered people to stay home after 12 noon, with residents only allowed to leave their homes between 5 a.m. and noon because the Covid-19 infection rate remained elevated in Gwa Township though it was falling in other Arakan State townships. 

The new caseload on a typical day has decreased from about 20 people to below 10 people, said Dr. Kaung Myat San, superintendent of Gwa Township General Hospital. 

“The number of Covid-19 patients at the hospital is just over 60 now. The number of cases is decreasing,” he said. 

The hospital has had to use up to 40 cylinders of oxygen a day as Covid-19 patients facing low oxygen levels have needed supplemental oxygen therapy, he said. 

The oxygen is transported from Taungup and Thandwe in Arakan State, and Hinthada in Ayeyarwady Region, Dr. Kaung Myat San added. 

Since the daytime curfew order in Gwa has lasted about three weeks and the number of new Covid-19 cases is decreasing, the township General Administration Department (GAD) has proposed to its district counterpart that people there be allowed to leave home between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m., said an official of the Gwa Township GAD.  

“If our request is responded to [affirmatively] by the district office, we will change the time during which the people can leave home,” he said. 

 Ko Phoe Chit, a resident of Gwa Township, said locals want more time outside of curfew hours. 

“The current time limit when people can be outside the home is not enough for daily wage workers to work outside home,” he said. 

Five people have been punished with one month’s imprisonment for breaching the regional order. 

A total of 927 Covid-19 cases and 27 deaths were reported in Gwa Township, while there have been 4,595 cases and 428 deaths statewide during the pandemic’s ongoing third wave, according to figures from the Arakan State military council provided on September 13.