At least 10 civil society organisations from across Myanmar including a coalition of CSOs in Arakan State issued a joint statement on August 25 calling on the government and the Tatmadaw to end human right abuses in Arakan State amid a recent spate of coronavirus infections in the state. 

The Tatmadaw says it will extend its unilateral ceasefire until September 30 in order to facilitate efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and honour its obligations under recent peace agreements, but the extension notably does not include Arakan State, which is grappling with both conflict and a COVID-19 outbreak. 

Swab samples from 51 people who returned to Maungdaw Township from Sittwe and two people under surveillance for COVID-19 at Maungdaw Hospital were sent to the Arakan State capital on August 24 for lab testing, according to the Maungdaw District Department of Public Health.

Entry and exit at all camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township has been restricted after three health staff from Relief International were infected with COVID-19, IDP camp officials said.

Fifty-six nursing trainees from several Arakan State townships who have been tasked with helping healthcare workers in Sittwe amid a COVID-19 outbreak in the state capital are struggling to get to the assigned postings because transportation options overland and via waterways have been suspended.

Eight healthcare workers including a doctor, as well as five Buddhist monks, are among 67 people who have recently tested positive for coronavirus in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, Sittwe Hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr. Zaw Lwin said.

Two artillery shells landed and exploded in Kyaukyan Thazi village, which is part of Kyauktan village-tract in Rathedaung Township, at about 7 p.m. on August 22, village administrator U Thant Nyunt Shwe said.

More than 100 people who are currently under facility quarantine at a football field in Kyauktaw town, Arakan State, have reported facing difficulties with accommodation and boarding. 

The Department of Medical Research under the Ministry of Health and Sports is set to launch a probe into a spate of coronavirus infections in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, which is said to be a mutation of the virus’s original strain that is more contagious.

Government schools in Arakan State have been temporarily closed, according to a state education official, as a COVID-19 outbreak in Sittwe continues to upend life in the state capital and beyond.

With COVID-19 infections continuing to rise in the Arakan State capital, passenger buses and cargo trucks running routes between Sittwe and Yangon were temporarily suspended starting on August 21, according to officials from the bus lines.

Part 3 of the Union Accord, considered a foundation of Myanmar’s efforts to establish a democratic, federal union, was signed by representatives of government, the military, Parliament, ethnic armed groups and political parties at the conclusion of the Union Peace Conference – 21^st Century Panglong on August 21.  

The Legal Clinic Myanmar (LCM) has asked the Arakan State High Court to suspend or postpone its trials, saying a temporary cessation of business before the court is the prudent course of action to take amid growing concern over a COVID-19 outbreak in the state.  

Travel restrictions have been put in place in parts of Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, after one coronavirus case was reported there amid growing concern over an outbreak in Sittwe, according to state lawmakers and residents. 

In order to access real-time information about COVID-19, locals and lawmakers have called on the government to restore 4G internet in seven Arakan State townships and Paletwa Township, Chin State, where more than 1 million people can currently only connect to a 2G network. 

A nighttime curfew was imposed in Sittwe on August 21 due to a recent surge in local transmission cases of the novel coronavirus, with the restrictions expected to remain in place for two months.

Two out of three people travelling by boat from Kway Shay village in Arakan State’s Ann Township were reportedly injured when they were shot at near Kazukaing Bridge, locals said. 

Restrictions have been put in place in Sittwe as the number of coronavirus-positive patients reported in the Arakan State capital has risen to nine in less than a week. 

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged the military and ethnic armed groups that are signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), as well as those that are not yet, “to tightly hold the emerging opportunities from the peace process,” in opening remarks at the fourth session of the Union Peace Conference – 21^st Century Panglong on August 19.