In a move that reflects the strain on hospital capacity caused by a recent surge in Covid-19 cases, Yangon authorities have added tents outside the emergency departments of four hospitals.
The makeshift facilities will shelter patients who are waiting for Covid-test results, said Dr Maw Maw Oo, a member of the Yangon’s Covid-19 response committee, as the number of confirmed cases countrywide topped 3,000 and deaths reached 26 as of 4pm today.
Dr Maw Maw Oo told 7Day News Daily that suspected Covid-19 patients are kept at hospitals for between 24 and 48 hours while they wait for the result of swab tests.
“Hospitals need more rooms for them, so hospital tents have been erected since yesterday for patients under investigation,” she said.
Tents have been erected at Yangon General Hospital, Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital, Insein General Hospital, and West Yangon General Hospital, she said.
When Myanmar Mix visited Yangon General Hospital today (September 14), workers were erecting an open marquee-style tent in the western part of the compound near the emergency department.
Asymptomatic patients are being sent to a building at the Yoma Yeiktha housing project in Dagon Seikkan township, said Dr Ko Ko Naing—these are the majority of new cases, according to health authorities, but patients with diabetes, hypertension or other underlying health conditions are at increased risk of severe illness.
The Health and Sports Ministry announced two more Covid-19 fatalities at 3.30pm—a 70-year-old man with hypertension and a 72-year-old diabetic man. Over the weekend Myanmar reports its youngest death related to Covid-19: a 32-year-old with an autoimmune disease.
While a cluster has emerged in Mon State capital Mawlawyine and cases continue to be recorded in Rakhine state, where the latest wave began, most new cases have been found in Yangon. So far Myanmar has confirmed 3,015 cases with 699 recoveries.
