Myanmar reports first detection of 3 new Covid variants

Myanmar announced on Tuesday the first detection of three new variants of Covid-19 in five cities across the nation. According  to the Ministry of Health and Sports laboratory tests conducted by the Defence Service Medical Research Center under the Ministry of Defence reported 11 cases of new Covid variants including one in commercial capital Yangon, four in its second biggest city Mandalay, three in southern Myeik, two in northwestern Tamu and one in Kalay near the Myanmar-India border.

“In terms of mutated strain, we have found out from the tests that two people were infected with Alpha variant, five with Delta variant, and four with Kappa,” the ministry said in a statement. It also added that one of the newly infected is a Yangon resident who returned from abroad. The ministry warned the people to strictly follow Covid-19 restrictions in order to prevent the outbreak, as the new variants like Alpha and Delta may lead to higher rates of infection and death toll. Myanmar reported 225 new cases on Tuesday, putting the total at 146,051 Covid cases including 3,248 fatalities. The nation has suspended some domestic flights since late May, in addition to the ban on visitors from the neighboring India and Bangladesh since April 27. The country has administered over 3.2 million doses of AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines so far.