More than 3,000 people in Myanmar have died after contracting COVID-19 as infections from the third wave of the pandemic increased the strife-torn country’s total confirmed caseload to nearly 150,000, RFA reported quoting the military government.

Myanmar detected its first positive COVID-19 case on March 23, 2020. The country, which shares a long land border with China, initially had a low number of confirmed infections and single-digit deaths until mid-August 2020, when the number of COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket during a second wave that was deadlier then the first.

To contain the spread, Myanmar officials put in place stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and mandatory quarantines for those traveling to other states and regions within the country as well as for those returning to Myanmar from abroad.