Medical workers in protective suits attend to people lining up for nucleic acid testing at a residential compound in China, following imported COVID-19 infections from Myanmar. (File photo by Reuters)
By LiCAS.news
Jul 7 2021
Several Catholic priests have contracted the coronavirus disease in Myanmar, with at least four priests in one diocese alone dying in just a week.
At least 20 of the 54 priests in the Diocese of Kalay in the country’s Sagaing region are currently suffering from symptoms of the disease — fever, cough, and colds.
There are currently 12 priests in the diocese who are confirmed to be positive of COVID-19 while another five have already recovered, said Father Joseph Thang Nen Zo Mung, the diocese’s director for social communication.
He said that in the village of Suangpi in Tedim township, almost half of the population of 180 households are sick. The parish priest died of the disease on June 27.
Father Mung said most people in the country have no access to medical care following the February 1 military coup that caused the health system to collapse.
Health practitioners, including doctors, were either arrested for joining the “civil disobedience movement” or went into hiding.
Read the full news in LiCAS.news.