No visible preventions in effect as Covid pandemic reemerges in Myanmar

Myanmar’s military regime has announced that Covid-19 infections have started recurring in the country, with 17 new cases confirmed by the beginning of this month. The new cases were found in a sample collected between May 25 and June 1 of 1,778 tests, implying a detection rate of 0.96 percent. All 17 of the confirmed Covid patients were in Yangon. Despite releasing these numbers, the military junta has yet to initiate any new measures to address the new rash of infections, such as quarantines, expanded testing, or vaccination drives. Authorities also have yet to issue instructions to wear masks, and only a few people are wearing them on the streets among crowds of hundreds of people in Yangon and Naypyitaw, according to first-hand accounts. Junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing can be seen holding meetings with large crowds of attendees, none of whom are wearing masks, in photos released by the regime in the past few days. “They’re announcing Covid cases, but everyone is taking it lightly and going about their activities,” said a man in his 40s living in the Hledan area of Yangon’s Kamayut Township. According to the junta’s announcement, there have been no severe cases, patients admitted to intensive care, or deaths so far. People infected with the Covid virus typically have symptoms such as fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, health experts said. A general practitioner in Naypyitaw said that when people experience flulike symptoms of Covid such as fever or sore throat during the rainy season, they consider them ordinary and simply take medication rather than testing for Covid-19. “Quite a lot of people have fever. They come to clinics, get injections and medicine, and recover, so they don’t really think it’s Covid. We’re the same. Now that new Covid patients have been found, rather than worry, we need to start taking precautions,” he continued. Health experts have said that the ways to limit the likelihood of infection include avoiding time spent in crowded places, wearing masks over the nose and mouth, washing hands with soap frequently, staying in well-ventilated living spaces, and maintaining a physical distance of six feet from others. Deaths in Myanmar notoriously spiked during the third wave of Covid-19 cases after the military coup. The junta chief said 19,000 people had died during the pandemic at a meeting with military council members in August 2022. Rather than admit the role of its mismanagement in causing shortages of oxygen and expensive medicines, the junta blamed healthcare workers who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement in striking against military rule. The regime also restricted the distribution and procurement of oxygen, requiring potential buyers to apply for permission to purchase it. This contrasted with the relatively effective containment of the virus under the previous government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). If the 17 cases found in Yangon in the past week may portend another wave in Myanmar, the results of which could be even more dire amid crowding caused by widespread power outages and displacement from the March 2025 earthquake.

No visible preventions in effect as Covid pandemic reemerges in Myanmar

Even after informing the public that new Covid-19 cases were confirmed to be occurring again in Myanmar, the junta has taken no preventive measures against the spread of the disease

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