Quarantine facilities arranged as more migrant workers are returning

New quarantine facilities are being prepared across Chin State as an increasing number of returning migrant workers from foreign countries are expected to arrive in May, a government source said.

State Minister of Social Affairs Pau Lun Min Thang said that they [the government] had received information indicating the arrival of an estimated 1,700 Chin migrant workers in Chin State in the month of May 2020.

Currently, the government arranges nine quarantine facilities, one in each township.

Colonel Han Win Aung, State minister of security and border affairs and vice-chairperson of Chin State COVID-19 Response Committee, said that they had arranged 50 places for quarantine facilities across Chin State and started providing over 1,800 beds and other necessary materials, according to local media sources.

Recently, Tuang Suan Khai, the first COVID-19 patient of the country, was discharged from his isolation in Tedim town last Thursday after his swab test results were confirmed negative twice.

As of now, there are five confirmed COVID-19 cases in Chin State, with the latest one found in Hakha while the rest are being treated in Tedim town.

Meanwhile, the fighting between the Arakan Army and Tatmadaw continues in Paletwa Township, triggering a sharp rise in the number of internally displaced persons inside and outside of Chin State.

“This has raised grave concerns over the well-being of the people fleeing the ongoing conflicts and those sheltering at different places in Chin State as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increases in the least developed region of the country,” said Sang Hnin Lian, program director for Human Rights Education and Religious Freedom of the Chin Human Rights Organization.#