Six nurses from the Shan State capital of Taunggyi who went to volunteer in Yangon have tested positive for COVID-19 there, according to the Shan State Public Health Department.
The nurses traveled to Yangon on the night of December 3, and arrived in the morning on the following day. They were then tested for the coronavirus upon their arrival.
“They were going to work in Yangon as volunteer nurses. Before they started working, they were tested for COVID-19. They tested positive,” head of Shan State’s public health department Dr. Thuzar Chin Tin told SHAN. “We are searching for people who had contact with these nurses in Taunggyi.
Dr. Thuzar Chin Tin said that the women were receiving treatment in Yangon.
The doctor added that a total of 14 nurses had gone from Shan State to volunteer in Yangon. Of the six who have tested positive for the virus, four had worked in Taunggyi’s Sao San Htun hospital and two were from the mother and children’s hospital.
Some 21 health workers returned to Taunggyi last week after volunteering in Yangon.
According to Burma’s Ministry of Health and Sports, the country has had 98,047 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of December 6, 76,382 of whom have recovered and 2,081 deaths.
