Arakan State tightens regulations on travellers

By DMG 14 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
14 July 2021, Sittwe 

Travel by motorway, waterway and flight is not suspended in Arakan State but regulations on travellers have been tightened, the Arakan State Administration Council says, as Covid-19 infection rates continue to rise nationwide. 

U Hla Thein, spokesperson for the Arakan State-level State Administration Council (SAC), told journalists on July 14 that no outright travel ban would be imposed because such a restriction could cause more difficulty for people. 

“Based on the situation of Covid-19 spreading in the state, we will not impose a travel ban, but we have tightened up regulations for travellers,” he said. 

“We have already instructed boat services on how to make people follow Covid-19 prevention regulations, such as to wear masks during the trip, to take hand sanitiser, and to follow regulations that individual boat lines have put in place,” he said. 

If travellers along the state’s motorways, waterways and air routes follow the Covid-19 prevention regulations, the risk of infection will be lower, he added. 

At airports, travellers are checked for fever to screen for potential Covid-19 cases, and passengers have to follow the regulations imposed by the airlines, he said. 

As of July 13, a total of 996 cases and 17 deaths were reported in Arakan State during the pandemic’s ongoing third wave.