A Chinese traveller arriving at Yangon Airport via a China Southern Airlines flight this morning is under suspicion of having the coronavirus.

Checks are reportedly being conducted to confirm the case.  

A senior official from the Ministry of Transport and Communications said the suspected patient had been sent to Waybargyi Hospital for quarantine until further notice. 

"It is not true he arrived dead on board the plane. As he has a fever having suspicious symptoms, he has been sent to the hospital that is kept ready. Please ask the Ministry of Health and Sports about more information," the official said. 

Dr Khin Khin Gyi, deputy director of the Central Infectious Disease Control Centre, said he is regarded as a suspected patient and the case is under scrutiny for confirmation.  

"It's true a suspected patient has been on board the plane from China Southern Airlines. He is a 60-year-old man. He has respiratory symptoms. He also has a fever. He came from Hunan County. He was a suspected patient. We cannot confirm every suspected patient. We have to check. There are tens of thousands of suspected patients in China. We can't say every suspected patient is found to be infected after checks. He will be kept in quarantine and samples from him have been sent to the reference laboratory in Thailand," said Dr Khin Khin Gyi.