Mawlamyine University Dormitory Turns Into Quarantine For Returning Migrants
By NETWORK MEDIA GROUP (NMG)
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Nearly 450 migrant workers who recently returned to Burma from Thailand will be placed in quarantine in a Mawlamyine University dormitory for two weeks, in an effort to contain any potential cases of coronavirus.
The returnees were headed back to different states and regions throughout the country but were brought to the Mon State capital from the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border crossing for quarantine. They are among 447 people, including 132 women and 315 men who, after medical checks, were deemed to be at risk for suffering from or transmitting COVID-19.
Col Nay Htut Oo, the Mon State border affairs minister, said that the quarantine is the implementation of an order issued by the Union government.
“The Union government gave a directive. That’s why we are implementing it. Karen State has also accepted returnees, so some returnees came here. We are trying to implement this for the betterment of the whole country,” Col Nay Htut Oo told NMG.
Other quarantine centers have been established in the Karen State capital of Hpa-an, but are insufficient to hold all those returning from Thailand, leading to the overflow of people to Mawlamyine.
The Mon State government has provided pillows, mosquito nets, blankets, food and drinking water to those quarantined in Mawlamyine University.
Medical workers are scheduled to check all people in the quarantine facilities daily. If anyone shows symptoms of coronavirus infection, they will be transferred to hospital quarantine
Officials from Mawlamyine District’s health department said that they need more personal protective materials, such as medical masks, as well as more volunteers.
The Mon State government maintains that it has the capacity to quarantine at least 1,000 people in the Mawlamyine University dormitory.
There are more than 350 quarantine facilities across Mon State, and 3,000 people are being monitored.
