Lashio – The authorities performed a swab test on 145 people being quarantined in Lashio on December 14 and found three COVID-19 confirmed patients, sources said.

The three patients were returned from Mandalay to have medical treatment in Mandalay General Hospital on December 4 and they are kept in home quarantine.

“One patient, a 48-year old man, is suffering from stomach cancer and his wife, a 48-year old woman, is suffering from diabetes. They went to the hospital alongside her sister. They lived in the same home. They stayed at Mandalay while they went to the hospital. We sent a woman, who has a close contact with them at the house in Lashio, to a facility quarantine center in Lashio Education Degree College,” said Dr Phyo Thiha Naing, Deputy Head of Public Health Department for Lashio.

The COVID-19 positive patients and patients with severe symptoms from nearby towns are kept in the ICU ward in Lashio Hospital.

“A total of 27 people are admitted to the hospital related to the COVID-19 virus. 18 of them are allowed to be discharged from the hospital. Two patients from Tantyang and Hsipaw died. Seven patients are receiving treatment at the ICU ward in the hospital,” said Dr Nyan Myint, Medical Superintendent of the hospital.

A policeman who came to Kamaryut Township police station alongside three other policemen and three people to take exhibits for court from Lashio, are found infected with COVID-19 virus on December 12 and are sent to the hospital. The other six are sent to the facility quarantine center in Lashio Education Degree College.