The Union Election Commission (UEC) has set a 60-day campaign period for Myanmar’s upcoming general election, from 6 a.m. on September 8 to 12 midnight on November 6, as political aspirants gear up to win voters’ favour amid a global pandemic. 

The Arakan National Party (ANP) has sent an open letter to Myanmar’s leadership, calling for an immediate end to the military’s operational strategy in Arakan State, where civilian casualties continue to climb despite a COVID-19 outbreak prompting lockdowns in much of the region.  

Internally displaced people (IDPs) who in recent days fled from several villages along the Kaladan River in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, are in need of sustainable provisioning of food and other aid, according to people assisting them. 

Ten COVID-19 patients in Arakan State who had been receiving medical treatment at Sittwe General Hospital have recovered and were discharged from the hospital on September 5.

Government spokesperson U Zaw Htay has estimated that Myanmar’s 2020 general election will only be fully held in five of Arakan State’s 17 townships. 

More than 40 healthcare workers are among a total of 515 coronavirus cases reported in Arakan State as of the morning of September 5, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. 

With COVID-19 infections continuing to rise in Arakan State, almost 20,000 locals residing along the Kaladan River in Kyauktaw Township have recently left their homes for safer places due to ongoing armed conflict in the area. 

At least 166 homes in Phayarpaung and Taungpauk villages in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township were burned to the ground on September 3, according to village officials. 

A young woman from Buddaw village in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, was seriously injured after stepping on a landmine on September 5, according to a family member of the victim. 

The Union Election Commission is coordinating with the Ministry of Health and Sports to make arrangements allowing people under COVID-19 quarantine to vote on Election Day, according to U Myint Naing, a member of the UEC.

Random testing of 550 people in Sittwe has turned up multiple coronavirus-positive cases, according to an official from the Department of Public Health in Arakan State.

A coronavirus-positive patient who attempted to flee Maungdaw Hospital was captured and is being held in detention at the hospital in northern Arakan State, Maungdaw District Deputy Commissioner U Soe Aung said. 

The military has told the Union Election Commission (UEC) that the security situation in some Arakan State townships is very concerning, offering its assessment just over two months ahead of the scheduled vote.

Homes in Phayarpaung and Taungpauk villages in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township were set ablaze at about 9:30 p.m. on September 3, according to locals.

The bodies of two villagers from Phayarpaung village in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, were found with gunshot wounds on the morning of September 4, said family members of the deceased. 

Ramree Township now stands alone, the only township in Arakan State yet to report a COVID-19 infection during the recent outbreak of the virus, and preventive measures are being stepped up in the township, according to local hospital authorities and civil society organisations.

Arakan State has become the new front line in Myanmar’s fight to contain and treat COVID-19, but that does not appear to have led to reduced collateral damage from the ongoing armed conflict in the state. 

The group Justice for Myanmar set up a mirror website on September 2, one day after the military watchdog’s original site was blocked by the Myanmar government.

Space for vehicle parking is inadequate at the Kyauktan temporary terminal in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, according to drivers.