Myanmar well equipped to battle Covid-19, says health ministry spokesperson

Hospital capacity is sufficient, and weather and quarantines will limit spread of virus, ministry spokesperson says

Published on Apr 5, 2020

Dr Tha Tun Kyaw, director-general and newly appointed spokesperson of Myanmar's health ministry, at a conference in Yangon in January. (Photo: Sai Zaw/ Myanmar Now)

The novel coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China in late December and has since spread across the globe. It has killed more than 60,000 people and infected more than one million.

Myanmar reported its first two cases of Covid-19, the disease the virus leads to, on March 23. As of April 5, 21 people have tested positive for the virus and one has died.

The ministry of health and sports warned of the possibility of a ‘major outbreak’ after some 23,000 migrant workers returned to Myanmar from Thailand in recent weeks, at least one of whom has tested positive.

Myanmar Now asked Dr Tha Tun Kyaw, the ministry’s director-general and newly appointed spokesperson, about the ministry’s efforts to curb transmission of the disease.

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Some regional governments have introduced new travel restrictions for the month of April. What has the ministry advised regional governments to do during this period?

Technically, this is a very important period. I urge the public to try to stay home during this time so that we can curb the spread of the virus. We want travel restrictions and we want people to stay home so they don’t expose themselves. The first two weeks of April are extremely important to us. The health ministry provides technical advice on restrictions but local authorities and administrations have to implement and enforce them themselves. Our job is to investigate cases and treat those individuals who are already confirmed to be infected before cases spread more across the country.

Can you describe the situation Myanmar is currently facing?

We reckon Myanmar will not experience the high rates of death and infection that some European countries have seen because of the climate here. Europe is very cold right now and it’s currently above 40C (104F) here, which makes it difficult for the virus to survive outside. (Though some early studies have suggested tropical climates may slow transmission, most in the scientific community take a more cautious stance on this, insisting too little is yet known about the new virus.)

Another factor is that we are enforcing mandatory quarantines in every state and region for those returning from overseas, separating them from others. Through this, we can minimize transmission.

The third factor is public awareness. We’ve already seen people in remote areas and small towns setting up community quarantine facilities separated from residential areas for those coming back from foreign countries and even from Yangon. In my opinion, this proves they’re highly aware of the virus. This is a good sign.

The last factor regards what the health ministry has implemented. We test suspected patients and isolate and treat those who test positive. We’re also trying to scale up testing. If there are more infections, we’ve arranged to expand treatment capacity at hospitals. Depending on the patient’s condition, we’ll put them at Wai Bar Gi Hospital or South Okkalapa Hospital in Yangon. In Mandalay, there is Kantaw Nadi Hospital, and we’ve arranged for the treatment of patients at public hospitals in different states and regions.

The government has formed one committee led by the vice-president (Myint Swe) and another by state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Both committees are working with several government ministries, including ours.

Considering all these factors, I think Myanmar will not see the devastation some European countries are seeing.

What is the situation in regards to Myanmar’s level of essential equipment for patients in critical condition, like ventilators?

Data show that only four or five of every 100 patients who test positive end up needing a ventilator. We’ve prepared our hospitals using this data. The preparations we have made at our hospitals will be enough.

Where does Myanmar’s testing capacity stand?

We have performed 1,108 tests in total so far. Only 20 people tested positive. We are trying to improve testing capacity. Currently, the National Health Laboratory (NHL) is capable of testing up to 300 lab samples a day. We’re testing on average 80 people every day, following the guidelines we’ve established for who needs to be tested.

We have arrangements in place to scale up the testing capacity if we see an increase in patients. There will be a new lab in Mandalay soon and there are plans to improve the NHL lab in Yangon. There is no need to worry.

How do you respond to criticisms that Myanmar’s low infection count is the result of its low rate of testing?

Not everyone needs to be tested. We are testing those who should be tested according to the guidelines from WHO. We don’t need to test everyone we see.

How is Myanmar working with other countries that have already treated Covid-19 patients?

We are involved in joint treatment research with other Southeast Asian nations arranged by the WHO. Also, a group of Chinese experts are coming to Myanmar to help. (They are expected to arrive early this month.)

How many medical workers have been quarantined so far? How many medical workers will be needed to face this pandemic?

Besides the medical staff assigned by the ministry, we also have many volunteers. There should be no difficulty regarding medical professionals. We have enough equipment, medicine and medical professionals.

A total of 70 medical workers are currently in quarantine across the country.

There are debates over whether or not people need to wear face masks, and if social distancing demands three feet or six feet between people. What does the ministry recommend?

I would say people should wear masks. Looking at the United States’ high rate of death and infection, scientists are looking into whether the virus can travel through the air. (The virus is known to travel through air, but there is some uncertainty about how large and how far viral particles travel.) This is a new virus and we still can’t say certain things for sure. However, people should wear masks and I urge everyone to do so.

The minimum physical distance between people should be three to six feet. That’s why we want travel restrictions implemented.

This interview was edited for clarity and brevity. Translated by Tin Htet Paing

Nyan Hlaing Lin

Nyan Hlaing Lin is Senior Reporter with Myanmar Now

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Win Htein to be tried by tribunal of two judges, says his lawyer

Announcement came as court postponed the 82-year-old’s third hearing, meaning his request for bail on health grounds was not considered

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 19, 2021

Win Htein arrives for the opening ceremony of the second session of the Union Peace Conference in 2017 (EPA-EFE)

Detained National League for Democracy party stalwart Win Htein is to be tried by a special tribunal of two judges following an order from the military-controlled Supreme Court, his lawyer said on Friday.

“It was just one judge before, and now there’s two,” Min Min Soe told Myanmar Now.

“District judge Ye Lwin will serve as chair, and deputy district judge Soe Naing will be a member of the tribunal,” she added.

Win Htein faces up to a 20-year prison sentence for sedition under section 124a of the Penal Code.

His third hearing, scheduled for Friday, was postponed, with the court citing the internet shutdown as the reason because it made video conferencing impossible, Min Min Soe said.

“The arguments will be presented at the next hearing, we applied for bail but since they’re setting up a tribunal for the lawsuit, that will be discussed at the next hearing as well,” she said.

At the second hearing on March 5, Win Htein requested an independent judgement, a meeting with his lawyer, and bail due to his health issues, but the court said those requests would be heard on March 19.

Win Htein, 82, uses a wheelchair and suffers from breathing problems that means he often requires an oxygen tank. He also suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Min Min Soe was allowed a brief call with her client on Friday to tell him that his hearing had been postponed until April 2.

Aye Lu, the chair of the Ottara district administration council in Naypyitaw, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Win Htein. Ottara district is where the NLD’s temporary headquarters are located.

Aye Lu filed the charge on February 4 and Win Htein was arrested that evening at his home in Yangon. He has been kept in the Naypyitaw detention center and denied visits from his lawyers.

He was detained after giving media interviews in the wake of the February 1 coup in which he said military chief Min Aung Hlaing had acted on personal ambition when seizing power.

On Wednesday the military council announced that it was investigating Aung San Suu Kyi for corruption, on top of other charges announced since her arrest.

Many other NLD leaders, party members and MPs have been arrested or are the subject of warrants.

Kyi Toe, a senior figure in the NLD, was arrested on Thursday night in Hledan, Yangon.

Myanmar Now

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Op-ed

Seeking justice in the wake of Myanmar’s coup

The country’s military leaders have acted with impunity for decades, but now there is a mechanism to bring them to justice

Lin Htet

Published on Mar 19, 2021

Nationwide protests against the coup have been responded with murders, torture and mass arrests by the military regime. (Myanmar Now)

On March 8, U Ko Ko Lay, a 62-year-old teacher, bled to death on a street in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina. He had been shot in the head while protesting the military coup of February 1. That same night, U Zaw Myat Lynn, an official from the National League for Democracy, was taken from his home in Shwepyithar on the outskirts of Yangon and tortured to death. The list keeps growing.

In the more than six weeks since Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seized power, images of soldiers and police officers shooting, beating, and arresting protesters have flooded social media and Myanmar and international news outlets. So far, the regime’s forces have killed well over 200 people (more than half of them in the past week) and seriously injured many more. The junta has also arrested nearly 2,200 people, some of whom, like U Zaw Myat Lynn, have died in custody.

Each day, Myanmar human rights organizations update lists with names, dates, locations, and causes of death. Around 600 police and a handful of soldiers have decided they do not want to be involved in such actions. They have left their posts and even joined the anti-coup movement.

Many soldiers, police officers, and commanding officers are acting with impunity now. But they can face prosecution, not only in Myanmar’s courts but also internationally. Like any country, Myanmar is subject to international law. Because of its history of atrocities, most recently against the Rohingya people, Myanmar is also already subject to special international legal proceedings that apply to the current situation.

The most relevant is the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The IIMM was created in 2018 after the Myanmar military’s brutal campaign against the Rohingya people, but it applies to the whole country. Its mission is to investigate “international crimes” from 2011 to the present.

International crimes are generally defined as “widespread and systematic” in nature, involving many victims and locations. These include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

In keeping with its mandate, the IIMM is collecting information on the current situation. In a statement released on February 11 (available in Myanmar here), it highlighted the “use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and the detention of political leaders, members of civil society and protesters.”

More recently, on March 17, the IIMM also called on recipients of illegal orders to share this evidence so that those ultimately responsible for these crimes can be held accountable.

"The persons most responsible for the most serious international crimes are usually those in high leadership positions. They are not the ones who physically perpetrate the crimes and often are not even present at the locations where the crimes are committed,” the head of the IIMM, Nicholas Koumjian, says in the statement (available in Myanmar here).

The crimes the IIMM investigates could be tried in Myanmar courts, courts in other countries, or international courts. International crimes are crimes that are so serious that they are considered to be against the international community, and are therefore not limited to courts in one country.

In other words, an international crime committed in Myanmar—for example, widespread and systematic attacks on civilians—can be tried in a court in another country or in an international court.

The Myanmar military is used to getting away with murder. Decades of well-documented killing, rape, and torture of civilians in ethnic minority areas have gone unpunished. No one has ever been tried for the killing of protesters during previous mass uprisings against military rule in 1988 and 2007.

But this time may be different. On March 4, the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement that “the killing of peaceful protesters by Myanmar’s security forces should be independently investigated as possible crimes against humanity.”

The IIMM is already set up and working. It provides a mechanism for just such an investigation. Those doing the shooting should be aware of this.

For further information:

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Facebook

International Accountability Mechanisms for Myanmar (learning materials in English, Myanmar, and Karen)

Lin Htet is a pen name for a team of Myanmar and international writers

Lin Htet

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At least eight killed in junta’s bloody crackdown in Aungban, Shan State

A resident said armed forces used drones to monitor the crowd before opening fire on them

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 19, 2021

Men carry a wounded protester in Aungban, Shan State, on the morning of March 19 (Supplied)

At least eight anti-coup protesters were killed in Aungban, southern Shan State, during an attack by the military junta on demonstrations on Friday morning, according to the Aungban Free Funeral Service Society.

Sixteen military trucks carrying more than 100 policemen and soldiers arrived at the protest site at around 9:00 a.m. and began shooting at protesters. Seven died at the scene, and another protester who had been shot in the neck was taken to Kalaw Hospital and died by 11:00 a.m.

All eight victims were men.

The body of the man who died at the hospital was sent to his family’s home, but those who were killed at the protest site were taken away by the junta’s armed forces, a representative of the Free Funeral Service Society told Myanmar Now.

Aungban resident Nay Lynn Tun told Myanmar Now that police and soldiers had destroyed the doors of nearby homes in order to arrest people, and that at least 10 people had been detained.

“Initially, police arrived at the site. When the crowd surrounded the police, armed soldiers arrived at the site and began firing,” he told Myanmar Now. “In the coming days, if we cannot gather to protest, we will do it in our own residential areas.”

Since March 13, around 300 volunteer night guards have watched over these residential areas to protect locals from the dangers posed by the junta’s nighttime raids. These forces use drone cameras to monitor the activities of the night guards from 3:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. every day, Nay Lynn Tun said.

He added that hours before Friday’s crackdown, military and police had also used drone cameras to monitor the gathering of protesters in Aungban.

Over the last week, at least 11 protesters have been arrested in Aungban. Only three-- the protesters who were minors-- were released.

South of Shan State, in the Kayah State capital of Loikaw, two pro-democracy protesters were also shot with live ammunition by the regime’s armed forces on Friday. One, 46-year-old Kyan Aung, was shot in the lower abdomen and died from his injuries. The other wounded protester was a nurse, according to eyewitnesses.

According to a March 18 tally by the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 224 people have been killed across the country by junta’s armed forces since the February 1 coup. Thousands more have been arrested.