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Third patient tests positive for coronavirus in Buthidaung



Saung Zar Kyi

Narinjara News, 19 June 2020

The health ministry announced one more COVID-19 case this morning, a 17-year-old girl from Buthidaung Township in Rakhine State is reported to have tested positive. 

She is thought to have come into contact with patient 262, a recent returnee from Bangladesh. 

Meanwhile, the number of recovered patients has risen to 185, with 168 already discharged from hospitals.

Ministry of Health and Sport announced today that a third person has tested positive for the coronavirus in Buthidaung township.  Patient 263, a 17-year-old girl, has no history of travelling abroad however she did come in contact with Patient 262, the announcement said.

Doctor Saw Min Thein from Buthidaung hospital told Narinjara that although the patient is from Buthidaung, she is currently in Hla Po Kaung transit camp in northern Maungdaw.

“She is a family member of the second patient and had been living with him since June 15 in Buthidaung Township. The second patient is a 63-year-old Muslim man who had illegally returned from Bangladesh where he had gone to seek medical treatment. They are both now in Hla Po Kaung transit camp,” he said.

Doctor Saw Min Tun said that they were making arrangements for patient 263 to be transferred from the transit camp to Maungdaw hospital.

U Shwe Hla Aung, township administrator for Buthidaung said “All five members of patient 262’s family were sent to Hla Poe Kaung transit camp for quarantine as soon as he tested positive in Buthidaung.  Another member of his family tested positive today but I understand that the other family members in quarantine there have all tested negative” he told Narinjara.

This recent case of the girl brings the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Buthidaung township to three.  On June 11, a 26-year-old Muslim man tested positive after illegally entering Buthidaung from Bangladesh, as well as the 63-year-old Muslim man who tested positive on June 15 and had also returned from Bangladesh.

U Tun Aung Thein, state Hluttaw representative for Buthidaung spoke to Narinjara about the situation. “For those suspected of having caught the virus it is important that they are tested as well as be cordially treated. The third patient is the daughter of the second.  As soon as the health department became aware that he might have the virus, he tried to hide and this is what happens, he passed on the virus to his daughter. Those people who have accepted people illegally entering Myanmar should be immediately identified and legal action should be taken. This is of serious concern for local residents that have come into contact with people like them,” he said.

As of June 18 there are nine confirmed cases of coronavirus in Rakhine state, with three cases in Buthidaung, four in Maungdaw, one in Taungup and one in Thandwe, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports announcement.  In Myanmar, as of 8pm on June 18 there have been a total of 262 confirmed cases, with just six deaths and 185 people have fully recovered. 5,587 people are under observation and a total of 55,413 people have been tested for the virus.


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