The deputy commissioner of the Maungdaw District General Administration Department and one of his staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, and five staff members who came in contact with them were quarantined on June 23.

“The five people who are currently placed under observation at a quarantine centre were tested and one of the five was found to be infected with COVID-19 this morning,” Dr. Nu Kaythi San, medical superintendent of Maungdaw District Hospital, told DMG.

The staffer diagnosed with the deadly virus is a man and women are among those being monitored at the quarantine centre, she added.

The three staff members from the General Administration Department who contracted COVID-19 were infected during a meeting with village administrators who had been in contact with illegal entrants from Bangladesh, according to a staffer from the GAD who declined to be named.

Maungdaw has reported five cases of COVID-19 over recent weeks, including two illegal entrants from Bangladesh and the three staff members from the General Administration Department.