Myanmar Junta Helpless In Battling COVID, More Dying Each Day

Six months after its coup, Myanmar’s junta has failed to stem the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, with more of its citizens dying due to the virus than the bullets fired from the rifles and pistols of soldiers trying to stamp out protests.

Photo Insert: The coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, blamed people for panic buying, warning the public not to spread rumors

Deaths have risen sharply daily during the third, delta variant, infection wave that began May 25 and 326 deaths were reported on July 23, bringing the official coronavirus death toll to 6,459.

Myanmar reported 5,506 new infections out of 13,487 samples, a 40% infection rate. Actual numbers may be higher because of those unable to get into hospitals, Voice of America News (VOA News) reported.

Cemeteries struggle to dispose of bodies quickly, without safety measures, and hearses carry three or more bodies, also transported by taxis and cars. Social media videos and photos show bodies piled for cremation at Yangon cemeteries.

Volunteers and staff since the coup wear no protective equipment other than masks. Free funeral operators and aid workers in Yangon say they cannot keep up with a death toll they claim is now around 1,000 a day.

Sein Win Than, whose charity service transports bodies, told VOA his organization must transport at least 40 bodies to cemeteries daily but cannot keep up with requests.

The situation is not unique to Yangon. In Mandalay, the death toll has risen daily because of a hospital doctor and nurse shortage. "About 60 patients die per day, but we can take only 30 dead bodies to the cemetery," an aid worker told VOA.

Kalay, in northwest Myanmar, was the first declared stay-home township when the wave hit. Aid workers and residents estimate the daily death toll has reached between 20 and 30 since the last week of June.

"Over 500 suspected COVID-19 patients died in Kalay and most are Christians," Lang Khan Khai, head of Kalay's Zomi Baptist Aid Group, told VOA July 18, referring to deaths since the last week of June.

The coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said on July 12 there is enough oxygen and blamed people for panic buying, warning the public not to spread rumors.

"I want the people to cooperate. The main thing is not to take political advantage of it. This is a social issue, not a political issue. This is a health issue and also a matter of human life," he said.

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