U Hla Thein, a spokesman for the Arakan State Administration Council, struck a defensive tone on his Facebook page Friday as social media criticism has piled up over alleged medical oxygen shortages amid the Covid-19 pandemic’s third wave. 

Three novices from the Sasana Linkarya Monastery in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township tested positive for coronavirus on July 22. The three novices range in age from 9 to 12. 

The Arakan State Administration Council has instructed healthcare workers not to give interviews to media outlets unless necessary to avoid misinterpretation, adding that the order was intended to prevent misunderstanding between health workers and members of the public. 

Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State are in need of food, including rice, as well as Covid-19 preventive equipment such as masks, hand sanitiser and soap, according to IDP officials. 

An oxygen generator set up by locals in Mrauk-U, Arakan State, began operating on Wednesday evening, helping efforts to supplement a national supply of medical oxygen that has not been up to the challenge of rising pandemic-related need. 

Covid-19 cases in Manaung Township, Arakan State, rose to 21 and two people here died on July 19-20 as the statewide death toll surpassed 50 during the pandemic’s ongoing third wave. 

The Department of Public Health (DPH) will reportedly provide home-based healthcare services in an effort to prevent unnecessary deaths among people who have Covid-19 but remain at home in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township.

Ten policemen will provide security for nurses at Sittwe General Hospital after some caregivers there threatened them, a member of the Arakan State military council, U Hla Thein, told DMG on July 21.

On Facebook and among civil society, criticism is mounting of the Arakan State military council, which has maintained that there is enough oxygen to meet the state’s medical needs as shortages due to the Covid-19 pandemic have been reported across Myanmar in recent days. 

Nearly 30 Covid-19 patients died in Arakan State in the three days from July 18-20, according to figures shown by the Arakan State-level State Administration Council. 

The Arakanese people have been urged to stay at home for two weeks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Arakan State, the United League of Arakan (ULA) said in a statement on July 20.

The death toll from Covid-19 is steadily rising in Arakan State, with multiple reported deaths due to lack of oxygen. 

Fatalities from the third wave of Covid-19 in Arakan State on Sunday surpassed the death toll of the pandemic’s first two waves combined. 

In some Arakan State villages, visitors have reportedly been restricted from entering and leaving to control and prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Some patients in Arakan State who have been infected with Covid-19 and are receiving treatment at hospitals say they have had difficulty accessing food and personal items.

Two monasteries in Sittwe have been placed on lockdown after monks at the separate facilities in the Arakan State capital tested positive for coronavirus on July 19. 

As a pandemic mitigation measure, vegetable and meat vendors at the Myoma Market in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township were temporarily relocated to Warit Taw Grounds, near the old town hospital, on July 17, according to the township development committee.

Maungdaw District Hospital in northern Arakan State is in need of oxygen supplies, according to the hospital’s superintendent, Dr. Nu Kaythi San.

With Covid-19 fatalities during the pandemic’s third wave in Arakan State rising to 31 on Friday, it appeared likely that by weekend’s end the death toll would surpass the statewide total, 37, of the first two waves of the virus combined.