A case of COVID-19 was confirmed in eastern Shan State this Wednesday (September 9).

Dr Ba Soe Thet, deputy head of health department for eastern Shan State, told SHAN that a migrant worker from Rakhine State, who traveled to the Siluu region in Mong Yang Township, is infected with the virus.

The doctor said the latest case in Shan State went to Siluu with three other confirmed cases. The patient, who is asymptomatic, tested negative during his first test. After testing positive during the second round, he was sent to the hospital in Kengtung.

Following contact tracing of the four cases in Mong Yang township, the health department determined that a total of 155 persons may have been exposed. All of these individuals have been found. Dr Ba Soe Thet said some of them were staying in a monastery.

Burma experienced a major outbreak of the acute respiratory disease after a bank employee in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, contracted the coronavirus on August 16. Since mid-August, when there were only about 400 total transmissions, over 1,600 cases have been detected in the country.

The government announced that all travelers from Rakhine State, and any other areas of Burma with outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, must be quarantined as soon as arriving in Shan State.

Seven new cases have been confirmed the state. Four are being treated in Kengtung, one in Taunggyi and two in Kalaw.

The government reported 2,265 transmissions in the country at 8 a.m. on September 11, while 625 recovered and 14 died.