People travelling via land or air routes to the Arakan State capital Sittwe will be quarantined for 21 days as part of efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to the Arakan Humanitarian Coordination Team (AHCT).

The Shwe Pyi Tan ferry service in Arakan State, which was suspended earlier this month as part of a raft of measures put in place nationwide to prevent the spread of coronavirus, is to resume operations on April 27, said the manager of the boat service.

With the monsoon season arriving and forecasts for widespread rain over the coming days, IDP camp managers and lawmakers are expressing concern about the adequacy of accommodation at the temporary settlements in Arakan State, where more than 150,000 people are displaced.

The camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) at Zedipyin village, where more than 1,000 IDPs are sheltering in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, is facing a water shortage, according to managers of the camp.

The Department of Disaster Management is providing financial assistance to homeowners whose houses have been destroyed by conflict in Arakan State, according to the state department’s director, U Win Zaw Htay.

A 5-year-old girl was wounded by a stray bullet as fighting flared between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) near a mountain range west of Khami Chaung village in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on April 24, said village administrator U Win Maung.

The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement issued a press release on April 21 saying plans are in place for COVID-19 preventive and containment measures in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), even as some in those settlements express doubts about their pandemic preparations.

Prospects for peace in Arakan State are waning as the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) continues to rise and conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army escalates, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) said in a statement on April 23.

COVID-19 test samples taken from war-torn Arakan State will henceforth be sent to Yangon by air, according to the state Department of Public Health, as 20 nose and mouth swabs were flown to the National Health Laboratory in the commercial capital on Wednesday.

Four people were killed and six were injured by heavy weapons fire on April 22 in Paletwa Township, Chin State, according to organisations that assist internally displaced people (IDPs) in the region.

A third straight day of gunfire in Arakan State’s Minbya Township killed four people and injured six others on the evening of April 22, according to locals.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has vowed an investigation into an attack that led to the death of a local World Health Organization (WHO) employee early this week in Minbya Township, Arakan State.

A spacious and open-air area has been arranged for greengrocers who typically sell their produce in more crowded Sittwe market confines in order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 contagion, said the local Development Affairs Committee.

A vehicle carrying medical products was fired upon in Arakan State’s Minbya Township on April 21, with the second such attack in two days killing the driver and injuring another person, according to Pyithu Hluttaw lawmaker U Hla Aung Nyunt.

A civilian from May Lwan village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township was shot dead by the Tatmadaw on April 21, the victim’s father U Kyaw Hla Oo told DMG.

Thirty-three out of 38 people recently arrested by the Tatmadaw in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, were released on April 20, according to local residents. The administrator of Kyauk Seik village, where the arrests were made, was among those freed.

One health worker was killed and another injured after the World Health Organization (WHO) vehicle they were travelling in was shot at in Arakan State’s Minbya Township on Monday evening. The incident took place at one end of the Rar Maung Bridge, close to Rar Maung Zet jetty, at around 5 p.m.