Three healthcare workers at Tat Taung cottage hospital in Arakan State’s Ann Township have tested positive for COVID-19, and the facility has instituted quarantine procedures since December 15, according to Dr. Nyi Nyi Aung, the hospital superintendent.

Local residents of Aung Thazi village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township said they dare not return to their village as Tatmadaw troops are stationed near their village. 

More than 130 signatures demanding the release of politician Dr. Aye Maung and the writer Wai Hun Aung, who were both sentenced to 20 years in prison for sedition and high treason in 2019, were sent to top government leaders on December 15.  

The Taungup Township Court on December 15 examined three prosecution witnesses in the case of four men including an ex-chair of the township Development Affairs Committee and a local Arakan National Party vice chair, who face terrorism charges for allegedly illegal ties to the Arakan Army.

Domestic flights, which have been suspended for three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume services as of December 16, the Ministry of Health and Sports announced on December 14.

A total of 64 candidates who contested the November 8 election in Arakan State will lose their K300,000 ($216) insurance premium because they did not reach a required votes threshold, according to figures from the Arakan State election subcommission. 

Arakanese youth in Yangon are making arrangements to donate warm clothes to internally displaced people (IDPs) camps in remote areas of Arakan State, according to organisers.  

Kyaukphyu Township in Arakan State has started to produce edible birds’ nests from swiftlets, said Dr. Yadana Si, who is leading a family business of “Hnin Taung” birds’ nest production.

Myanmar’s president and the commander-in-chief of the Defence Services, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, have called for holding make-up elections before December 31 of this year in some no-voting areas of Arakan State where the general election was cancelled due to security reasons on November 8.  

A total of 50 out of 197 Tatmadaw members in Arakan State tested positive for COVID-19 following labs on December 13, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. 

A man sheltering at Yan Aung Myay IDP camp in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township died by hanging himself at home on Tuesday morning, according to family members. 

Farmers in Kyauktaw Township say they are encountering a shortage of workers and combine harvesters despite it being time to harvest monsoon paddy in Arakan State.   

The 46^th anniversary of Arakan State Day, to be observed on December 15, will be available for internet users to partake in via an online livestream, according to the Ministry of Arakanese Ethnic Affairs in Yangon Region.  

Over 4,000 local residents of more than 20 villages in the Daletchaung village-tract of Arakan State’s Ann Township are finding it difficult to bring in food and medical supplies as Myanmar’s military has blocked both water and road routes.  

The National United Party of Arakan (NUPA), led by the prominent revolutionary leader Major-General Khaing Razar until his assassination in 1998, has been disbanded and merged with the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), the NUPA announced in a statement on December 12. 

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has no plans to file complaints about the November 8 election results in Arakan State, according to the state USDP chairman, Dr. San Shwe.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided about 3,000 blankets to internally displaced people (IDPs) at IDP camps in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, to help them stay warm during the cool season, according to residents. 

A case has been opened after a 12-year-old girl from Nget Chaung Muslim IDP camp in Arakan State’s Pauktaw Township was raped last month, but the suspects remain at large nearly two weeks after the alleged incident took place, according to the Pauktaw Myoma police station.  

A 14-year-old boy from Ramree Township, Arakan State, who faces terrorism charges after being arrested by the Tatmadaw last month, was released on bail Thursday and requires medical treatment for injuries apparently sustained or untreated while in military custody, according to family.