Three truck drivers tested positive for COVID-19 in Burma’s northern Shan State. Thaung Tun, from Garuna Social Volunteer Team, told SHAN they’re being quarantined in Nawngkio (aka Nawng Cho) town, where medical staff are monitoring their health.

The lorry drivers were tested at the Kyin San Kyawt border checkpoint in Muse, along the Chinese border. They drove from Muse to Mandalay before getting their results. When they were tested again at the Nawngkio checkpoint, they were confirmed as positive and sent directly to Nawngkio Public Hospital.

There are nine confirmed transmissions at Muse Public Hospital. Doctors told SHAN that all the patients are doing well. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Shan State Health Department has recorded 70 transmissions, of which one person died from COVID-19 related causes.

According to the government’s Ministry of Health and Sports, on October 17 there were 1,387 new confirmed cases, 893 recoveries and 39 deaths in the country. On October 19, a total of 36,025 transmissions were recorded. Of these, 18,069 recovered from the virus, while 880 died.