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Myanmar faces unabated virus cases amid medical system in collapse
The situation has been worsened by turmoil in the country following the Feb. 1 military coup that ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
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This picture taken on July 14, 2021 shows people waiting to fill empty oxygen canisters at a location donating oxygen at no cost in Yangon, amid a surge in the number of Covid-19 coronavirus cases. Residents across Myanmar's biggest city are defying a military curfew in a desperate search for oxygen to keep their loved ones breathing as a new coronavirus wave crashes over the coup-wracked country. (AFP/Ye Aung Thu)
M
yanmar continues to face an unabated wave of coronavirus infections as the country's fragile medical system has almost collapsed, causing mounting opposition among people toward the ruling military that has been unable to take any effective measures against the COVID-19 outbreak.
The situation has been worsened by turmoil in the country following the Feb. 1 military coup that ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
A number of medical workers are continuing to refuse service in protest against the military coup, while some doctors gave up the protest called civil disobedience movement amid the outbreak that started in late June. Hospitals across the country are full and vehicles carrying bodies form long lines in front of crematoriums, according to reports by local media.
Health authorities said they have confirmed between 4,000 and 5,000 daily cases and over 300 deaths this week, while coronavirus tests have found a positive rate of over 30 percent. The actual numbers of cases and deaths would be higher as the confirmed data did not include those who died at home.
The largest city Yangon has reported over 1,000 deaths daily this week, according to local media reports.
A 47-year-old Yangon resident said that before his father-in-law died of COVID-19, he lined up to buy medical oxygen for him at oxygen factories from early morning to late afternoon.
The man said he has seen nearly 100 cars carrying bodies form lines in front of crematoriums in the city.
"The bodies were not in coffins but just wrapped in blankets. I will never forget such a terrible scene," he said.
According to the Our World in Data website run by an Oxford University research program, 3.4 percent of the population in Myanmar had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of July 5.
Those who can receive decent medical treatment are a handful of people including high-ranking officials of the military government, according to the media reports.
In Yangon, 10 new crematoriums are under construction to cope with the spike in deaths. An official of the military government said in a Facebook post that the new facilities will solve the problem of bodies being left for several days before cremation.
But some local people criticized him by maintaining the authorities should have provided more vaccines and other preventive measures against infections before constructing the crematoriums.
According to a state-run newspaper, the English-language Global New Light of Myanmar, Myanmar received 500,000 doses of vaccine donated by China last year and 2 million doses from the country this month. The military government purchased 4 million doses from China, which will arrive by the end of August.
