Myanmar is on the brink of a COVID-19 catastrophe due to the lack of leadership by the military junta, a report by Radio Free Asia quoted medical experts.
The report said failure to quickly control infections and deaths amid a third wave of the disease could bring the country to its knees.
Medical experts blamed the military, which took over the government in February, for allowing the national healthcare system to disintegrate.
The report said the number of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar rose by 5,860 over a 24-hour period to a total of 246,663 since the the country’s first recorded case in March last year.
The official monthly infection rate has jumped from about two percent of those tested in April 2020 during the first wave of the coronavirus to 23 percent earlier this month.
At least 5,814 have died in the country, including more than 2,200 in the first three weeks of July alone, according to official government data.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently designated Myanmar a level 4 COVID-19 nation—its most dangerous ranking—citing the daily rising number of deaths.
Reports said the country’s hospitals are operating at maximum capacity and turning away all but the most seriously ill.
A statement issued by the Myanmar Medical Association on July 19 warned that the current pandemic is “seriously affecting the health and economy of the people of the country as a whole.”
Dr. Than Naing Soe, a spokesman for the junta’s Ministry of Health and Sports, has earlier called on citizens to put aside their differences and “work together” to bring the outbreak under control.
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, the Catholic Church’s highest official in the country, also called for unity early this week to address the pandemic.
“This is not the time for inflicting wounds. This is the time to heal,” said the Church leader.
RFA quoted sources that the military is restricting United Nations aid workers from accessing thousands of refugees despite an urgent need for shelter and medication in the Chin region.
The report said that a shipment of medicine and relief goods for about 1,000 refugee families in Chin state’s Mindat township did not reach the people.
A Catholic priest who asked not to be named said UNHCR officials had called on the local army commander to lift the ban on travel.
“I heard that they were asking for permission to distribute the rest [of their supplies] to people in the nearby forests and those in various wards of the town,” said the priest.
“I don’t know yet if they will get permission. I think the army did not allow them to go because it could not take responsibility for their security,” he added.
More than 50,000 people—including 15,000 from Mindat alone—have fled their homes in Chin state since late April, when the military launched an offensive against a local militia.
According to the United Nations and aid groups, conflict in Myanmar’s remote border regions has displaced an estimated 230,000 residents since the February coup.
They join more than 500,000 refugees from decades of conflict between the military and ethnic armies who were already counted as internally displaced persons at the end of 2020. – with a report from Radio Free Asia
