Two Covid-19 patients died in Yangon and Pyay on Wednesday morning, bringing Myanmar’s official fatality count to three.
They are a 63-year-old woman with underlying diabetes, kidney and heart diseases, who died at Yangon’s Wai Bar Gi hospital, and a 47-year-old man with underlying hypertension, who died at the general hospital in Pyay.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi announced the death of the woman during a Facebook live broadcast of a conference with health and social workers in Magwe region.
“The death of a person is a loss for the country. Please help as much as you can to prevent further losses,” she said in the broadcast.
“Don’t panic. Sad news may emerge in the coming weeks, and we should be prepared for that,” she added.
The woman was admitted to hospital in late March after falling ill following a meeting with her son on his return from Dubai. But the son was given the all clear after she tested positive in early April.
Health experts have warned that the elderly, people with other diseases, and those with poor immune systems are more likely to die from Covid-19.
The man, a township administrator from Paukkaung in Bago region, tested positive along with his son, daughter and niece after his wife, a staff member at the International SOS clinic in Yangon, was diagnosed.
He died at around 4am on Wednesday after suffering from septicemia and acute respiratory distress, said Khin Khin Gyi, director of contagious diseases at the health ministry.
His wife is now being treated at the Wai Bar Gi hospital while the son, daughter and niece – who were until recently at the Pyay hospital but were transferred to Wai Bar Gi on Wednesday afternoon – are in good health, the ministry said.
Myanmar has 22 confirmed cases of Covid-19. The first fatality was a 69-year-old man with underlying nasal cancer.
