Myanmar’s Second Wave of Coronavirus Takes Toll on Under-60 Population
A resurgence of coronavirus infections in Myanmar has been lethal for younger people in the Southeast Asian country, with 40 percent of those under the age of 60 who have tested positive dying from the highly contagious respiratory illness, a government health official said Thursday.
On Thursday, Myanmar registered 4,043 COVID-19 cases, with 222 new infections, and 60 deaths, including 20 new fatalities. The country of 54 million people has had 944 recoveries so far.
Myanmar, which shares a long land border with China, initially had a low number of confirmed infections and single-digit deaths from March until mid-August, when the number of COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket.
“In the first wave of infections, there were only six deaths, and 80 percent of them were people over 60 years old,” said Dr. Khin Khin Gyi, director of the Central Contagious Disease Prevention and Eradication Department at the Ministry of Health and Sports.
Nay Myo Htun and Kan Thar for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
