Myanmar has reported 197 new cases of Covid-19 and four new deaths, among them a 51-year-old man without any stated underlying health conditions.
Two deaths and 99 cases were reported last night followed by two deaths and 98 cases this morning. Of the new cases, 168 were in Yangon – 97 in the city’s Thingangyun township – while clusters also developed in Bago region’s Kawa township and Mandalay’s Myingyan township, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.
The 51-year-old patient died in Yangon’s Waibargi Hospital at 3.30am this morning due to a heart attack and severe respiratory damage, said the ministry. The man would become Myanmar’s first Covid-19 death without any existing ailments.
The other three recently deceased patients had diabetes and hypertension: in Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital, a 57-year-old woman died at 4.05pm on September 7; on the same day in Mawlamyine General hospital, a 65-year-old man died at 12.30pm, and an 82-year-old man died yesterday at 3.10pm in Covid-19 Medical Centre Phaunggyi, Yangon region.
The four deaths bring Myanmar’s coronavirus-related death toll to 12. There are now a record-high 1,347 active cases of Covid-19 in the country and, as of September 7, 23 of them were in intensive care. Overall Myanmar has had 1,807 confirmed cases.
But health officials have said that the majority of cases are asymptomatic—75 percent as of September 5, according to health minister Myint Htwe.
The recent surge in cases has prompted several semi-lockdowns of Yangon townships and the closures in Yangon region of nightclubs, bars and restaurants, which returned to a takeaway-only service this week.
