There have been 718 cases of Covid-19 recorded at the Myanmar Asia Optical Lens Factory in Mingaladon Industrial Zone, Yangon Region, according to a February 1 announcement by the Ministry of Health.

A total of 2,233 laboratory samples were tested and 718 were found to be infected. Eight people with symptoms were taken to designated hospitals and 710 were isolated, according to the statement.

Dr. Khin Khin Gyi wrote on social media that all 718 cases were of the Delta variant of the Covid -19 virus, not the more recently emerged Omicron variant.

Those infected included people already previously vaccinated.

A previously vaccinated worker who became infected said: “Even after being vaccinated, the virus was found. I don’t know why. I think that after 11 days of quarantine, everything will be okay. So far, I have not felt anything serious because of the virus.”

Previously, about 300 workers from the Myanmar Asia Optical Lens factory were infected with Covid – 19 in September 2021, during the second wave of Covid-19 infections.

An officer from a labor organization said: "We also heard that that factory was infected. Many workers live in dormitories in a factory compound, so there are a lot of infections.”

In a statement released on February 1 the Myanmar Asia Optical Lens Factory said that due to the Covid – 19 outbreak workers from outside were not permitted to enter the factory and all workers at the factory were forbidden from leaving.