US citizens have been jailed in Myanmar for violating coronavirus-related orders, said the US embassy in Yangon, as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases increased to 146.
The embassy confirmed US citizens were imprisoned for three to six months for “violating local directives” during the Covid-19 outbreak, but declined to disclose further details or the number of citizens arrested “due to privacy concerns.”
The embassy’s Twitter account posted on April 24 that “foreigners” have been jailed for breaking quarantine rules and a ban on gatherings of more than five people.
“We encourage all U.S. citizens to stay informed on Myanmar laws and COVID-19 related guidance,” an embassy spokesperson told Myanmar Mix in an email. “The U.S. Embassy regularly updates our web site with Myanmar-specific COVID-19 information.”
Courts have sentenced several people this month to six months’ imprisonment for breaking quarantine regulations, while those who violate the ban on gatherings face the same stretch under the 1995 Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law.
Authorities announced lockdown restrictions on three more Yangon townships—Mingalardon, Tamwe, and Botahtaung—on April 24.
Seven other townships—Bahan, Insein, Mayangon, South Okkalapa, Pabedan, Shwe Pyi Thar, and Hlaing Tharyar—have been under lockdown since April 18.
Citing confirmed cases in those townships, authorities have imposed stay at home measures, with one person in each household allowed to go shopping at a time, and mandatory masks when entering or leaving.
Meanwhile, newspaper The Standard Time Daily reported that O Sushi Japanese restaurant on Parami Road in Kamayut Township is under lockdown after an employee tested positive for the virus.
Seven other employees have been placed under quarantine and one customer who had sushi via delivery has requested a medical test, according to The Myanmar Times, adding that the shop closed on April 23.
In Naypyidaw, ward and village tract administrators were warned not to block roads in their communities.
The Naypyidaw Council said barriers had been erected to block entry for non-residents over fears about the spread of the coronavirus.
Following a council statement on April 23 banning the blocking of roads at the entrances to villages and the installation of boom gate barriers on main roads, a resident told news outlet 7Day News Daily that “we are worried that a stranger might enter our communities without being noticed; if the non-resident was infected, the whole village would be in trouble.”
