Government schools in Arakan State have been temporarily closed, according to a state education official, as a COVID-19 outbreak in Sittwe continues to upend life in the state capital and beyond.

With COVID-19 infections continuing to rise in the Arakan State capital, passenger buses and cargo trucks running routes between Sittwe and Yangon were temporarily suspended starting on August 21, according to officials from the bus lines.

Part 3 of the Union Accord, considered a foundation of Myanmar’s efforts to establish a democratic, federal union, was signed by representatives of government, the military, Parliament, ethnic armed groups and political parties at the conclusion of the Union Peace Conference – 21^st Century Panglong on August 21.  

The Legal Clinic Myanmar (LCM) has asked the Arakan State High Court to suspend or postpone its trials, saying a temporary cessation of business before the court is the prudent course of action to take amid growing concern over a COVID-19 outbreak in the state.  

Travel restrictions have been put in place in parts of Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, after one coronavirus case was reported there amid growing concern over an outbreak in Sittwe, according to state lawmakers and residents. 

In order to access real-time information about COVID-19, locals and lawmakers have called on the government to restore 4G internet in seven Arakan State townships and Paletwa Township, Chin State, where more than 1 million people can currently only connect to a 2G network. 

A nighttime curfew was imposed in Sittwe on August 21 due to a recent surge in local transmission cases of the novel coronavirus, with the restrictions expected to remain in place for two months.

Two out of three people travelling by boat from Kway Shay village in Arakan State’s Ann Township were reportedly injured when they were shot at near Kazukaing Bridge, locals said. 

Restrictions have been put in place in Sittwe as the number of coronavirus-positive patients reported in the Arakan State capital has risen to nine in less than a week. 

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged the military and ethnic armed groups that are signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), as well as those that are not yet, “to tightly hold the emerging opportunities from the peace process,” in opening remarks at the fourth session of the Union Peace Conference – 21^st Century Panglong on August 19.  

Stakeholders participating in Myanmar’s peace process must foremost be honest, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing said during his opening speech at the fourth iteration of the Union Peace Conference – 21^st Century Panglong on August 19.  

Three people who did not have direct contact with a coronavirus-positive patient employed by CB Bank in the Arakan State capital Sittwe were found to have been infected with COVID-19, according to Dr. Zaw Lwin, the Sittwe Hospital medical superintendent.

More than 3,200 internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering at Tin Nyo camp in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township are in urgent need of rice, according to officials at the displacement camp and IDPs.

Local people from 25 villages across three village-tracts in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, are concerned about potential shortages of food.

Students in Arakan State who passed the matriculation exam in the 2019-2020 academic year will again be awarded “inclusive scholarships” to further their studies at institutions of higher learning, according to the Center for Diversity and National Harmony. 

Two residents of Zin Chaung village in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township have been charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, according to family members of the detainees. 

The Arakan Army released five members of the Arakan Liberation Party who had been detained, including its joint-secretary, on August 18, said Lt-Col Khaing Kyaw Hlaing of the ALP.

A proposal to construct temporary buildings for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Rathedaung town has not been approved by the state government, according to an Amyotha Hluttaw lawmaker.

Nineteen people including family members who have had close contact with a coronavirus-positive patient in the Arakan State capital Sittwe and staff of the CB Bank branch where the patient works have been placed under facility quarantine, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.