Kachin State’s second COVID-19 case has been released from hospital care after appearing to recover from the novel coronavirus. Case 249 will need to be quarantined another two weeks before it’s certain the patient is fully recovered.
Dr. Tin May Thinn, head of Moemauk Township Health Department, told KNG that Case 249 was discharged from Bhamo Public Hospital this Thursday (July 2) after testing negative twice. He says the patient tested negative on June 25 and June 30. After a two-week quarantine, Case 249 will be required by law to self-isolate at home for an additional seven-days.
Following extensive contact tracing, the health department determined that 266 persons were in contact with Case 249. All were tested and the test results were negative. A second round was ordered and the results have yet to come in.
Case-249, employed as a nurse at the Loije border gate in Bhamo District, along the Chinese border, tested positive on June 11.
Over 9,000 have returned to Kachin State from China and 958 from Thailand since July 2.
COVID-19 was discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December 2019. After the virus spread rapidly around the world, the World Health Organisation declared it a pandemic on March 11.
The Government of Burma introduced a partial lockdown in early April to prevent the spread of the virus.
Many unable to work due to travel restrictions are struggling during the lockdown. The government provided some assistance, but some say it’s not enough. Government food baskets haven’t reached many villagers living in remote and rural parts of the country.
