Batch of Covid cases reported over past week in Arakan State

By DMG 08 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
8 December 2021, Sittwe

Fifteen cases of Covid-19 were reported in Arakan State from December 1-8, according to the state’s Covid-19 Monitoring Group.

A 7-year-old child airline passenger in the Arakan State capital Sittwe tested positive for Covid-19 on December 8.

Seven boatmen in Sittwe who returned from border trading in Bangladesh tested positive for the virus on December 7, and are in isolation at the Shwe Min Gan border trade camp.

On December 1, seven airline passengers in Sittwe tested positive for Covid-19.

Ko Zaw Tun Hlaing, part of a team monitoring the Covid-19 situation in Arakan State, said the pandemic has been largely ignored by the public, and government response has been weak.

“The local government will take effective measures to prevent the spread of the virus as more people become infected. I think the local government should conduct awareness campaigns about the pandemic,” he added.

The Arakan State Administration Council has said it will take steps to raise awareness about the Covid-19 pandemic and take action against those who do not comply with the rules amid the growing number of domestic transmission cases.

At the same time, the new variant Omicron has been reported in neighbouring Thailand and India.

The Arakan State regime council needs to keep a watchful eye on motorways, waterways and air travel to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, said U Khaing Kaung San, secretary of an Arakan State humanitarian coordination group.

“We need to be more careful as the new variant Omicron is [detected] in neighbouring countries. Myanmar has close relations with neighbouring countries, so we need to be careful. It is the responsibility of every citizen to move around with health awareness,” he added.

As of December 5, 21 cases of the new Omicron variant had been reported in India.