Yangon, Apr 30 (IANS): Myanmar's Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment for Covid-19 has further extended the Covid-19 preventive measures until May 31 in efforts to contain the pandemic.

The extension is applied to all orders, announcements and directives issued by related union level government organisations and ministries, according to the Committee in a statement on Friday.

On Friday, Myanmar's Health Ministry reported 21 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 612,864, Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 10,573 lab samples were tested in the past 24 hours in the Southeast Asian country, and the daily positivity rate stands currently at 0.2 per cent, according to the Ministry.

The Covid-19 related death toll remains unchanged at 19,434 as no new deaths from the pandemic were reported in the past 24 hours.

According to the Ministry's figures, another 40 patients were discharged from hospitals on Friday, bringing the total number of recoveries from Covid-19 to 591,794 in the country.

Myanmar detected its first Covid-19 case in March 2020.