Domestic flight passengers in Myanmar have to undergo Covid-19 testing from February 15, according to the Arakan State Department of Public Health (DPH).

People who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus will also be tested, said Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the state’s DPH.

“Those who are fully vaccinated and the non-vaccinated will be tested for Covid-19 [no more than] 48 hours before the flight departure,” he told DMG.

The Ministry of Health has instructed passengers to be tested for Covid-19 one day in advance of their trip, said an employee of Star Wave Air Ticketing sales centre in Sittwe.

“All passengers, whether fully vaccinated or who have yet to be vaccinated, shall be tested for Covid-19 from February 15, the ministry instructed,” the staffer said.

Under the ministry plan, domestic passengers must present a valid document verifying their negative Covid-19 test status at the airline check-in counter.

People can get tested for free at laboratories that are open seven days a week during normal office hours, at the township health department where the relevant airport is located, or at hospitals and clinics that the ministry has authorised to conduct Covid-19 testing, a ministry letter outlining the new flying requirement said.

Between May 25, 2021, and February 13, 2022, a total of 5,273 coronavirus cases were reported in Arakan State, with 501 of them dying. Twenty-three people are still receiving treatment for the disease at hospitals in the state, according to figures provided by the state’s regime council.

The DPH in Arakan State said Covid-19 cases are still being detected, particularly in Sittwe and Kyaukphyu townships, in recent days.

Nationwide, a total of 1,787 new Covid-19 cases were reported on February 12, bringing the total number of infections since the pandemic began to 545,298, according to the Ministry of Health. The ministry said Saturday was the 20th consecutive day in Myanmar without a death attributed to the virus.