The Ministry of Health and Sports of Myanmar on March 23 reported the two first cases of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19).

Myanmar people wear face masks (Source: Myanmar Times)

The results from the Myanmar National Health Laboratory confirmed that a 36-year-old Myanmar man travelling back from the US and another, 26, returning from the UK had both tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

The patient arrived from the US on March 13 and experienced fever a week after.  He is now being treated at a hospital in Chin State.

Meanwhile the younger man, who arrived in Yangon on March 22, is under treatment in Hlegu.

The ministry said that any person who came into direct contact with the two patients would be monitored.

The testing results will be sent to a WHO-accredited laboratory in Thailand on March 24, it added.

Source: VNA