Priority is being given to distribution of Covid-19 protective equipment to camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State, said U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State Administration Council.

With a rising number of healthcare workers in town being infected with Covid-19, Chin State’s Paletwa faces growing risk of being plunged into a health crisis. 

The Sinbawkaing camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), which was locked down after seven IDPs tested positive for Covid-19, was reopened on July 23 after the virus patients from the camp were discharged from the hospital in good health.  

Residents in Thandwe are in need of relief supplies after most urban neighbourhoods and some rural villages in the township flooded due to heavy rains, with high waters beginning to recede on Wednesday. 

Due to widespread coronavirus infections in Arakan State, quarantine centres will be shut down in the state capital Sittwe to focus more on treatment at Covid-19 care centres, according to the Arakan State Administration Council.  

The Arakan National Party (ANP) issued a statement on July 27 stating that the recent annulment of the 2020 general election results could exacerbate Myanmar’s political crisis. 

The Arakan State Administration Council has reportedly done no preparation for the return of displaced Tinma village residents to their homes in Kyauktaw Township. 

The distribution of oxygen from an oxygen plant in Mrauk-U, Arakan State, will be suspended temporarily from July 27, according to Nang Yeik Garunar, a community-based charity group helping to supply oxygen in the town. 

More than 300 houses in five villages of northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, were inundated by floodwaters and three inter-village bridges were washed away, according to village officials.

Patients and oxygen cylinders were evacuated to safer locations due to flooding at Thandwe District Hospital in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, on Tuesday morning and cremations were delayed after the township cemetery was inundated by heavy rains.  

The number of Covid-19 fatalities in Arakan State during the ongoing third wave of coronavirus has almost tripled the combined total of statewide deaths in the first two waves of the pandemic.

Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have been hit by flooding due to recent heavy rains while Covid-19 lockdowns are making it difficult for inhabitants to earn money for food, according to camp managers.  

Ex-National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker U Min Aung, a former Arakan State MP in Taungup Township, and a fellow party member were charged under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law at a court hearing on July 26. 

Repeatedly delayed efforts to get the ancient Arakan Kingdom capital Mrauk-U inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site may again be set back as western Myanmar, like much of the rest of the country, remains in the grip of a deadly new wave of coronavirus. 

Arakanese singer Myet Ni aka Ko Nyi Nyi, who was born in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun town, died of Covid-19 at his home in Yangon’s Tamwe Township on Friday evening, according to family members. 

Covid-19 patients will be remotely monitored using CCTV cameras at Sittwe General Hospital as the hospital is understaffed, said the Arakan State Administration Council of Myanmar’s military regime. 

The Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) announced on July 24 that it has formed a virus control group to expedite emergency coronavirus control and treatment services in Myanmar due to the growing Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

A newly built oxygen plant in Mrauk-U Township has refilled about 200 oxygen cylinders since it started production on Wednesday night, according to Nang Yeik Garunar, a community-based charity group helping to supply oxygen in the town. 

The death toll of the pandemic’s third wave in Arakan State had risen to 93 as of July 23, according to the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH).