Burma’s COVID-19 case 150 stayed at a friend’s house instead of doing a government-mandated 14-day quarantine when she returned from China. After arriving in Burma, the eighteen-year-old stayed at her friend’s house in Kalay, located in Sagaing Region.
Shar Mee, a parliamentarian for Kalay township, told Khonumthung News, the woman’s friend claimed they weren’t informed that she had recently returned from abroad and didn’t report she was staying at their house with Home Affairs. The woman’s “name wasn’t included in the quarantine list in Kalay,” Shar Mee explained.
Yesterday, blood and tissue samples of six people that had contact with the woman were sent to the National Health Laboratory in Yangon, said the parliamentarian. “I think we’ll know the results in the next three days, and after we can take whatever further action that’s necessary.”
After the woman left the friend’s house, she stayed in her village in Hakha township, located in Chin State, for a week. On April 16, she checked into a government quarantine in Hakha.
It’s unclear if the woman understood that she was required to quarantine immediately after returning home or if she contracted the virus before reporting to her quarantine or after she stayed in the government facility.
One of Burma’s first confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 23 was a man from Tedim in Chin State. He recently recovered from the virus. In total, there have been six infections confirmed in Burma’s western state. Four are receiving treatment in the Tedim public hospital and the other person is staying in the hospital in Hakha. There have been at least six confirmed cases in Sagaing Region.
Of the 150 confirmed cases in the country, 27 have recovered and 6 died. Due to low testing and the county’s poor health infrastructure, some health professionals suspect the number of infections could be much higher. The government has only tested 7,718 for coronavirus, according to information on the Ministry of Health and Sports website that was updated on April 29.