Pauktaw Hospital hits coronavirus capacity 

01 Sep 2020

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG
1 September, Sittwe

According to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Sports, the number of coronavirus-positive patients in Pauktaw Township, Arakan State, had risen to 20 as of September 1, hitting a mark previously described as the upper limit of the hospital’s capacity.

No instruction has yet been given by the local government as to how to provide medical treatment to patients if the number of virus-positive cases continues to rise at the hospital, Pauktaw Township administrator U Khin Maung Soe told DMG.

“No direction has been given by the local government so far. I think the local government will instruct us depending on the number of coronavirus-positive patients in the township,” he said.

So far none of the coronavirus-positive patients in Pauktaw are considered to be in critical condition, and patients with severe symptoms will be transferred to Sittwe Hospital, said Dr. Ko Ko Aung, medical superintendent of Pauktaw Hospital.

“We will transfer the patients with serious symptoms to Sittwe Hospital under the instruction of the local government. We cannot accept more than 20 patients at Pauktaw Hospital,” he said.

Some people who had close contact with the coronavirus-positive patients are under observation — spread out across a religious building, the town hall and an indoor stadium in Pauktaw town, which have been converted into temporary quarantine centres.

Apart from Ramree Township, the number of confirmed cases in Arakan State’s remaining 16 townships had reached 413 as of 8 a.m. on September 1, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Sports. 

The figures represent a dramatic spike in infections last month; prior to the recent outbreak, there had been just 16 coronavirus cases reported in all of Arakan State since the pandemic began.